The state budget, student safety and a look at the University's accomplishments and plans for improvement were main topics in University President John T. Casteen, III's annual State of the University Address yesterday.
The speech included topics proposed by various University groups and was followed by a student response organized by the Living Wage Campaign.
Casteen opened by thanking those in attendance.
He commended Chief Human Resources Officer Susan Carkeek for her efforts in creating the Workforce Development Program, which Casteen said he hopes will help the University remain the "employer of choice in the region."
Casteen also spoke about Virginia's state budget, which is expected to give $225 million to public colleges and universities, primarily to support capital campaigns and financial aid programs.
"Both nationally and statewide, people are recognizing the failure of the current financial aid system," Casteen said.
He discussed the University's growing dependence on endowments because of the decreased availability of state funds. Private gifts received in the first half of this fiscal year have totaled nearly $109 million.
Casteen announced that the University has maintained its ranking as the No. 2 public school, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
The University is also the leading four-year public research institution for its six-year graduation rate, and has the highest graduation rate of black students, according to Casteen.
Despite the University's accomplishments, Casteen noted several areas in need of improvement. Student safety remains a top concern for the University, especially in light of recent sexual assault cases, Casteen said.
Casteen said while the number of racially-motivated incidents has decreased this year, according to the Bias Incident Reporting system, the number of incidents against lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer students and students of Asian-Pacific backgrounds have increased.
Casteen also discussed University athletics, faculty and student accomplishments, the importance of the 10-year plan in conjunction with the Capital Campaign and efforts to replace Provost Gene Block and Ed Ayers, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.
Although a question-and-answer session was not held following the address, a group of students gathered on the steps of Old Cabell Hall afterward, asking the University to take action in implementing a living wage, a topic not discussed at the address.
"We agree that amazing things are going on here, but we think that the fundamental inability of the University's low wage workers to adequately support themselves and their families on the wages they make here is grossly overlooked," said Hannah Pocock, a first-year College student and Living Wage Campaign member.
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