Matt Harmon: The 2022, 23 academic year is up and going. And the Monmouth weekly podcast is back as well. Plenty to talk about as the campus and university community is buzzing with activity with the university president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Horman it's time for episode number 41 of our podcast series. Thanks is always for listening and welcome back to Monmouth for the fall semester. Matt Harmon: Good to be back with you here on Monmouth weekly, what a fantastic summer, and even a better time here the month of September local summer, as they call it here around the Jersey shore and the start of the semester now up and going at Monmouth university faculty member, Matt Harmon with university president Dr. Patrick Leahy president Leahy, a nice summer off. It's what we've been doing the last couple years since we started this podcast in 2020 during COVID. I, I will say a happy start to the semester to you. I won't say happy fall yet. I think that's such a, that's a confusing time around here. This is the best time of the year to be at the Jersey shore. It's local summer and unofficially the calendar. Doesn't say it's fall until at least a couple weeks from now. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. So I will say happy new year to you, I guess, for those of us who work in the academy Matt Harmon: Happy new academic year. Patrick Leahy: right. But I'm with you let's, let's not talk about happy fall until maybe November 1st, if we can push it that far. But we were off from our mammoth weekly podcast, but we had plenty of plenty going on this summer and I hope we'll be able to get into that a little bit later, but had a great summer great time with the family. Got, got the R and R that we were were hoping, but had a lot of exciting things going as well. Hope. Hope you can say the same with your summer. Matt Harmon: Yeah. So important to be able to you know, unravel for just a little bit and, and, and enjoy what the coast of New Jersey brings. I know you're a beach guy, I'm obviously a beach guy as well as, as you kind of look to it. And if I said, Hey, what was the highlight of the summer? I would imagine it's, it's somewhere you sitting in a beach chair and just being able to decompress for a little Patrick Leahy: Bit. You know, I, I always joke with people that I live in these let's call it the central Jersey shore. And when I want to get away, I just drive an hour and a half south to the south Jersey shore . And so to your point I am a beach guy and I never worry about getting sand you know, all over me. That is just the, the, that is good living if you ask me. So yeah, the most relaxing times for me are on the beach you know, in a chair, you know, letting the surf come up under the chair and in a, in a really good book, because I just, I'm so busy that I can't get that time during the year to get into those books that I wanna read. So so that's really relaxing. And then of course the time doing all the various activities with the family. Matt Harmon: Yeah. Family time, obviously important. And, and for us you know, this, this was a scheduled break. We always kind of try and take the summer off from our, from our podcast series, which started back in March of 2020. And I think we do have now the opportunity that the world has become a little bit more normal to almost reenvision it, as we go forward still dying to get you over to the radio studio. Maybe we can do a live show here or there, and kind of almost get back to normal and what would be a, a normal podcast rather than continuing to talk over, over the computer and, and through the electronic methods, which have become so popular the last couple years, we, we can, we can take it now, another level, I think, as we go forward in the next couple of months. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. And that's, I think you and I talked about maybe do it a little bit less frequently. You know, we were on a weekly pattern there during the pandemic because it was just such a thirst for information. And I think this was a good way to get information out to the campus community. Hopefully we are settling back in that little bit of normal. I, I said to the students the other day, I said, I hope almost as much as anything that your coming year is ordinary. And then I had to explain that I would never ever want your time here at mama to be ordinary on the FA on the contrary. I want it to be extraordinary. What I mean by ordinary is I hope we're back to normal. Very, very few COVID precautions. Not many protocols that we need to follow. Hopefully we can keep any lingering cases of COVID to a bare minimum. And that's what I mean by I'm hoping for an ordinary year so that we can do what we can to deliver the Monmouth experience, which will be extraordinary, extraordinary for our students. Matt Harmon: You know, that was something that as I met with my four classes during the course of, of this first week of the semester number one, it was great to see everybody's face without a mask is that it's mask optional. This year most of my classes are, are performance based. So as students got up and did some work, even the first week of the semester to be able to hear everybody without muffled of a mask was also a benefit. And I also had some really nice conversations and I, and I'm sure you have done the same, because I know you're always outward talking and greeting students trying to find out what's going on on campus. That for, for several students being in class without a mask and face to face, that has not been the norm the last couple of years. So for many upperclassmen, juniors and seniors, this is really their first experience with what we would call a normal college experience, which to me still a couple years removed from the start of COVID just, just blows my mind. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. Think about it. I mean, you could, you could be a junior now, I guess, right. Or, or maybe even a senior and now getting that perfectly normal experience. So I, I, I credit the students so much for their perseverance as we you know, fought through this pandemic together. So I'm hopeful for a really, really special year for them Matt Harmon: Let's dig into what was, I'm sure, a busy summer we've joked before on the podcast. Everyone thinks come commencement to the beginning of the semester, I guess everybody's just on vacation taking it easy. And that might be the case. I, if you're fortunate enough to be like me, who's got a summer job and I don't necessarily teach during the summer in and out during the course of the year as well. But the summer in and of itself is probably as busy or busier in so many ways to get things done while the campus isn't crowded or busy. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I still get people that ask me oh, you're the president of the university. Now the commencement's over, what are you gonna do all summer and they just, they just, I don't appreciate that this summer, as you point out is such a busy time. In fact, we're in particular when it comes to continually enhancing the campus, it's such a busy time because we try to jam so many capital projects into that 10 or 12 week period where the campus is at lower activity. Although this summer there was a ton of activity on campus. Lots of academic programming, although a lot of that is, is online by design. But lots of sports camps and the, like, I think, you know, we filmed a, a major motion picture on campus for three or four weeks. We had conferences from outside the area. Patrick Leahy: We hosted a few really special weddings. I mean, we had a very, very busy summer, which I always love because, you know, we had this great asset called our campus and it sits underutilized during the months of the summer when you could most put it to use if you think about it. So we had a very busy summer, but we still tried to get a lot of capital projects in that are designed to enhance the student experience here at Monmouth and to try to take existing infrastructure that we have and redeploy it for the benefit of our students. And if I may, I'll just give you a couple of examples. We have a brand new intercultural center for our students that they serve that serves all of our students, but, but in particular, our increasingly diverse student population, we have new space for our career development center on the first floor of the Stafford center, bigger, more marque space for career development. And that's just the, the least of the improvements we're making to career development. We have additional lounge space that we're creating for, for our students. We have continued the reprogramming of the great hall which will be pretty much complete. This is a project that started a few years ago to, to take a, a building that was to this point, really an administrative building, and to turn it into a hub of student activity all of that for the students. And then we have a new alumni house for our 55,000 alums and the staff that serve them. So a lot of space moves to take fuller advantage of our existing infrastructure to serve our constituents Matt Harmon: In so many ways. As the campus gets back up and going this semester getting your emails, hearing you talk the enrollment of the university in a lot of ways, the, the class numbers wise, maybe not as big, but doesn't mean that it's not great in and of itself coming to campus and being part of what goes on at Monmouth. Patrick Leahy: So this fall we will enroll in our first year undergraduate class, the finest first year class ever. I mean, in, in 89 tries at this, you know, 89 years, we've been enrolling a first year class. This is, this is the best ever by, by almost every measure, Matt, it is the highest academically prepared class as measured by GPA and average S a T than ever before. It is the most geographically diverse class ever. That is more than 30% of the class emerges from outside the state of New Jersey, which is an important strategic imperative. Given the, you know, the declining demographics in New Jersey, fully 20% of the incoming class has signaled to us that they wanna be on one of our five year master's programs. So they're already thinking ahead that I want to get my bachelor's degree at Monmouth and then add another year or two and, and get that master's degree. Um it is a diverse class for a private institution, 27% self-identify as diverse. And something that's really important to me is 31% of the class are here on federal Pell grants, which is the federal aid program for the most high financial needs. So if our strategic plan aims to integrate excellence and access, all you need to do is look at our first year class and you'll see that coming together now, as you point out, it was a little bit smaller than previous classes, and that was sort of by design. You know, we wanted to make sure we could preserve those quality indicators in our incoming class. So it'll put a little pressure on our operating budget. We're down a little bit in transfers, we're down a little bit in graduate. So, you know, no one variance on enrollment would be, you know, much about which to worry, but, you know, when you add a, a few of them together, you know, we're a little bit smaller than we were last year. And we'll just have to manage to that. Matt Harmon: Tell me from a standpoint, and, and I know that you have oftentimes made mention of your conversations and communications with other college university presidents. I, I can't imagine, as you just said, the diversity and the academic reputation of the class, albeit a little bit smaller, that's gotta be it area wide nationwide problem right now with higher education. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I mean, any school sort of you know, east of the Mississippi, let's just say, and, you know, north of, you know, the Mid-Atlantic is dealing with this because it's the Northeast part of the country where the demographics are moving against us, you know, the Southern part of the country and parts out west, the, just the flat out demographics are growing in the, in the target, you know, age, population of college going students, but not in the Northeast and not in the, you know, the Midwest. So any of us who are located in those markets and are dependent upon those markets for enrollments are, are struggling to enroll robust classes. I mean, it is I always say a part of the country where you have at once the demographics declining and also the greatest concentration of really fine schools in the country. So when you put those two factors together, it's it's it's a challenging en enrollment environment for just about all of us in in particular that sort of third of the us Matt Harmon: Is this part of I mean, listen, the, the world was turned upside down a couple years ago in, in March of 2020 continues to kind of repair itself when you, when you think of it. And it's probably part of a larger conversation that we can get into another point, but how, how does the, the enrollment challenges maybe play a part in the overall long term future, the five year strategic plan that the university has? Patrick Leahy: I it's interesting. You should ask, cuz I, I always think back to the spring convocation twice a year, I deliver remarks to the campus community. As you know, I do these open calls on a, basically a monthly basis or, or more frequently that maybe reduces the necessity of these fall and spring convocations. But I delivered a, a spring convocation in late January of 2020. And the topic of that time, Matt was the greatest challenge facing Monmouth university in particular and maybe high ed institutions in general was the declining demographics. Then six weeks later COVID hit. So COVID really exacerbated, laid bare. I think some of those challenges because it was that much more difficult for people to stay enrolled in school that much more difficult to find the resources to go to college. Men are dropping out across the country in alarming rates. Um now that we're through the pandemic, hopefully knock on wood we're through the pandemic. We have as an institution survive that pandemic in pretty good shape, actually financially the long term challenge still remains. And that is the declining demographics in the Northeast part of the United States. I mean it's gonna get worse in the coming 10 years, not better. And that just means all those fine schools are gonna be chasing an increasingly small population of students. So yeah everything that we have embedded in our strategic plan is, you know, how do we continue to make coming to Monmouth a first choice option for that smaller that smaller demographic of students? So it's a, it's a real challenge and we've been worried about it for years and we're now just starting to see it turn up in the numbers. Matt Harmon: So let's transition into maybe what will be one of the more important roles that you will play this year as university president. And that is part of a important capital campaign that will take place all during the course of this academic year, which I know a big part of it is to ensure some fundraising and donors and all the stuff that goes along with it. That is part of, you know, probably right at the top of the list of being university president at, at any school across the country, but clearly here at Monmouth. Patrick Leahy: I mean the last three years I've felt like, you know, I'm, I'm just now starting my fourth year here. And the last three years, I really felt like I had to be directly involved in the operations, you know, just to do what I could to help us get through this really challenging time. And then I started increasingly doing more external affairs work once we codified our strategic plan though Matt embedded in that is to try to, to execute the largest capital campaign in our history in order to support the strategic plan. And I gotta hit that hard starting right now. I mean, harder than I have been the last three years because of my focus on operations. So it's probably the case that every university president allocates a large part of his or her time to, to, to fundraising. I will get back to that in a very real way, starting this academic year. And it's a, it's a challenge that I welcome because it comes naturally to me actually enjoy as crazy as it sounds. I actually enjoy the fundraising process. It can be a very meaningful way for somebody who has resources to to provide additional meaning in their lives. And I welcome that opportunity to introduce people with resources, to the great work we have going here and to try to make that, you know, that meaning happen. So some people sometimes ask, what percentage of your time do you spend on fundraising? And I always redirect the question to, you know, ask me how much of our, my time I spend selling right. What does that mean? Yes, fundraising is a part of that promoting the university is a part of that talking with prospective students and their families as a part of that establishing relationships with the local community is part of that. If you expanded it to that, I would tell you about two thirds of my time is spent selling the university. And then a portion of that is actually asking for money. So it is it's an exciting time. We have a lot to offer donors here at Monmouth and our hope is that I'll be able to announce that we're doing easily, easily, the most significant campaign ever. Matt Harmon: You know, part of the transition, I would say from summer or spring of last year through the summer now the fall would, would be some of the changes that we talked about things on campus. We'll spend a minute on maybe one of the, the bigger ones that was the move at the end of the year from an athletic standpoint leaving the Mac and the big south and the MEAC and some sports and coming over to the CAA. I, I was at the, the, the first event in essence of Monmouth against the CAA school, which was up at the university of New Hampshire in the season opener for football. I know field hockey is now in conference, speeding Delaware the other day. And, and I, I think it's something that people, whether they've quite figured it out yet. And I know around here, it's a tough transition to get outta summer mode and into fall sport mode. It's exciting, right? I mean, you're, and I know you've talked about it last year. We talked about it last year from a athletic standpoint. It's one thing, but even from the academic side of things, excuse me to realize the schools that Monmouth is now affiliated with. Patrick Leahy: So I think, you know, athletically, Matt, I think our first ever CAA contest, if I'm not mistaken, was that trip up to UNH? Matt Harmon: That is correct. Patrick Leahy: Unfortunately, it, it didn't turn out exactly the way we planned, but we played well. And, you know, I think we'll dust dust ourselves off and be ready for this this Saturday. But I think that win that you mentioned field hockey against Delaware was our first CAA win is I think, and Delaware was nationally ranked, I think, 17th or something at the time we beat them in overtime for our first CAA win in our history. And then subsequent to that, our field hockey team became nationally ranked. Now that is such a significant achievement because, you know, in football, when we're nationally ranked it's within the subset of American college football. And it's great. And I'm very proud when we get those national rankings, but when you're ranked in field hockey, that's every school in the country that plays field hockey. , you know, so that is quite an achievement. And it's a, it's, it's a, I think a measure of the quality of the athletics in that conference and the step up that we're taking athletically. But as you point out to me, I will continue to say this was not just an athletics move. This was a university wide move to allow us to get into increasing increasingly important secondary markets along the east coast, and to associate with some of the really fine schools on the east coast, the kind of schools that we increasingly want to see ourselves like. So it was really a great move and be very anxious to see how sort of the whole first year of play in the CAA turns out and to see, you know, where we stack up against those other fine athletic programs. Matt Harmon: Yeah. It should be should be a lot of fun to, to kind of see it unpack. I know men's basketball yesterday, just put out their non-conference schedule to go along with the conference schedule, which had already been published a couple of weeks ago. You know, you got games to look forward to in the winter against Illinois, against UVA, with Seaton hall, Princeton, just among the schools. And, and, you know, you mentioned that the football home opener the football season opener at U N H the home opener will be tomorrow as you and I are recording here on a Friday. Great schedule there as well, soccer teams off to really good starts field hockey. You mention cross country always does. So well, so exciting times from the athletic perspective of things at Monmouth. Let, let, let's finish with a couple other ones. I know that today. Are you going over to sing at the Bruce Springsteen meeting? I know you're the, the chairman of the archives. Do, do you get to sing any of the songs or is it just strictly strictly meeting time? Patrick Leahy: No, no, those, those those good collaboration or two too important to me to subject them to my singing. So no, I will not sing. But I am really honored, frankly. I mean, if it's not a privilege enough to be the president at Monmouth university, I, I also was elected a year or two ago to be the chair of the board of the Bruce Springsteen archives and center for American music, which is a really, really unique partnership that we have with Bruce Springsteen and his camp, if you will, you know, his, his people and his most senior people are really directly and actively involved in this. I'm the chair of that board. And John Landow, his longtime producer friend and business partner is the vice chair. So that's evidence of how serious this partnership is not only between our organization, but between their organization. And it I can't take any credit for bringing that to Monmouth. I, I inherited that jewel, but we are working diligently on trying to figure out Matt, how to most take full advantage of this really special partnership that, that we have. And we're working through that. We have quarterly meetings, like most boards and our, our September meeting happens to be today. And I'm very, very excited about you know, the possible, the possibilities with the Springsteen archives and center for American music. Remember when Bruce Springsteen agreed to entrust us with his legacy, basically his, his items and his archives. He insisted that it also be the center for American music because as I understand it, you know, he's, he's signaled that he is an important part of American music, of course, but there are a lot of other important stories in American music and there should be a place equipped to tell them and for Monmouth university to be that place is an incredible opportunity for us and responsibility. And so we're, we're working with them to continually, you know, figure out the best possible way to, to make that happen. Matt Harmon: You know, I, I think as I, as I think back to all the things that we've talked about over the course of two and a half years here on the podcast part of setting mammoth apart from other schools and universities are things like this, whether it's the Bruce Springsteen archives, the polling Institute, athletically, the move to the CAA the urban, the urban coast Institute, which has now become something so important. I mean, you're talking about things that are campus related, but in, in some ways, right, are, are bigger than campus related and get the name of Monmouth out there for people to dig into the university a little bit more. Patrick Leahy: And, you know, I worked at other institutions that were, you know, desperate to try to find that one thing that would help distinguish them what colleges and universities across the country wouldn't give for any one of those things that you just mentioned, the polling Institute, the Springsteen archives, the urban coast Institute, you know, our, our location here at the shore. I mean, I said to the students again the other day, I mean, if you want to get to the beach, find Cedar avenue and walk due east three quarters of a mile, you'll hit the beach. Not a lot of college presidents can say that to their students. In fact, you can probably count on two hands, a number of college presidents that can say that to their students. And, and then if that's not enough, you know, we just made this big move to the CAA so that we're gonna get a lot more you know, publicity, we hope, you know, for our student athletes and, and to our university to shine that spotlight on the great work that happened here day in and day out, you know, it's such a privilege to to, to lead an institution that has all these, all these assets. And it is time for us to break out Matt. There are a lot of really fine schools that do really good work. They serve students really well. They're really committed educators, but it's time for Monmouth university to break out of that pack. And we are positioned like few other I'll call 'em, you know, medium size private institutions in the country to do that Matt Harmon: Exciting times as it always is, start of the semester now up and going at Monmouth president Lehe, thanks for hopping on given us some time I know, busy, especially the first week of the semester. And, and it was nice to, to hear from you and kind of prompt, like, let's get the message back out on the podcast again, as we talked about earlier we'll, we'll probably have some fun kinda changing up the dynamic of it a little bit, but we, we will clearly be back with you pretty soon to talk about all the great stuff on campus at Monmouth and the start of a brand new academic year. Presently have yourself a great end of your first week. And I look forward to seeing you in person over the course of the next couple of days. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, me too, Matt. Thank you. Matt Harmon: We say goodbye from our Monmouth weekly podcast episode, number 41 comes in the books, 42 coming at you real quick for more information on Monmouth, go to monmouth.edu, plenty of social media sites to follow on the school as well. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, you name it. Monmouth has you covered congratulations to the students who have started their academic career at Monmouth? Great to see the faculty and staff back up and going as well. The academic year of 22, 23 up and going, and we're proud to talk about it here on mammoth weekly.