We made it!
May 7, 2026
We reached a triple achievement: (1) We have over 950 deposits for the fall, still growing, with the magical 1,000 within shouting distance. (2) We finished the Spring semester, with one more day of final exams left, plus grading. (3) We (almost) completed Academic Year 25/26. And what a year it has been.In my Bulletin post last August, I noted that the mood on campus felt much more sober than when I arrived on campus the year before. Summer 2025 was very difficult, and we did not know what the Fall would bring. But we welcomed 694 first-year students, vowed to keep as many as possible at Xavier, and we retained well over 90 percent from Fall to Spring and most likely over 85 percent to their sophomore year. That’s pretty good. We revamped our admission procedures, made it easier for prospective students to schedule appointments with faculty, and redesigned our XU-Preview-day program together with the College of Health and Human Studies, formerly known as CPS. CAS alone started eight new majors, two new minors, a new concentration, and two new graduate programs. In February, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Xavier’s computer science major. The first Collaborative Humanities Cohort will arrive on campus this fall. We settled on a strategy to develop engineering, and we formed ties with our new College of Osteopathic Medicine, programmatically as well as by tactically infiltrating the COM with CAS faculty. We welcomed six new permanent faculty and six wonderful new staff members, and we expect that another three new staff and two new faculty will have joined us by the beginning of Fall. We celebrated the promotions of 13 faculty and are saying goodbye to seven faculty and staff colleagues who are retiring this year.
Overall, this year turned out much better than I anticipated back in August. After two summers full of planning and adjusting, I expect this summer to be more like the academic summers of the past. What does my crystal ball say for next year and beyond?
The much-anticipated enrollment cliff is finally upon us—but I am not worried. Xavier has much more positive momentum than many comparable universities. Artificial Intelligence is going to be a major disruptor of Higher Ed. But again, I am not worried. Yes, we will have to find AI-proof ways of assessing Student Learning Outcomes. Yes, we will need to figure out how to integrate AI into our disciplines so that our students become comfortable using AI as the helpful tool that it can be. Yes, we will have to understand AI ourselves. But whatever skills AI will make obsolete, critical thinking is not among them. And Xavier’s unique combination of strong liberal arts and the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm excels at teaching our students how to think critically. We just need to become even better at telling this to prospective students and their parents. We will be convening two task forces this summer. The first will explore how our college and individual departments can support student career development. Career development is an area in which the Arts & Sciences have fallen behind the professional colleges, and we need to remedy this to remain attractive to students. Our other task force will continue to work on the college’s vision and strategic plan. They have done a fair amount of fact-finding and feedback-gathering in the Spring; now is the time to put it all together and develop our plan for the next five years. The work of both task forces will define some of our projects for next year.
But it’s not next year yet. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Bonus points to those who recognize this quote.
Wishing all of you a peaceful and restorative summer,
Florenz
Florenz Plassmann
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences