Slippery Rock University (SRU) President Karen Riley delivered the annual state of the university address to faculty, staff and shareholders in the Smith Student Center Ballroom Thursday, Sept. 10.
Riley discussed the university’s performance, financial planning and new initiatives during the address. Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, (APSCUF) Chapter President Jason Hilton opened the address by emphasizing the importance of unity.
“Our record enrollment tells us students believe in this place. Our growing philanthropic support shows alumni and donors believe in this place. The accomplishments we celebrate today demonstrate what happens when we believe in one another,” Hilton said.
University performance
Student enrollment increased by 5%, with first-year, full-time student enrollment reaching 1,627, a record high in university history.
Graduate student enrollment has also broken records with 1,577 students, a 2.6% increase from 2025.
Student athlete GPA also led the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference for the second consecutive year and placed second among all Division II institutions with a 3.528 GPA.
“That’s pretty darn good,” said Riley.
However, the fall student retention rate dropped from an 86% to 84% between 2025 and 2026. Riley emphasizes that while the two-percentage-point decrease may appear small, it has a significant effect on the university.
“If we divide the students that left over our five colleges, we lost an additional of about 82-84 students,” said Riley. “If each college keeps ten more, if each college keeps 20 more…if each program keeps one more student, then we are popping champagne today!”
Riley said SRU will not settle for mediocrity and presses that the university can improve its retention rate.
“When we look at this, 84% is great: for the other people. 84% is not great for us, because we know we can do better…the students that come here depend on that,” she said.
Faculty scholarly and creative production also increased, with the number of publications rising from 153 in 2024-25 to 218 in 2025-26.
“Every time someone from Slippery Rock goes out and does an academic presentation, they represent us. And the best of us,” said Riley.
Grant activity increased in the number of submissions and awards, though the total amount awarded decreased. In 2025, SRU submitted 42 grants and received 27 awards totaling $1,464,089. In 2026, the university submitted 68 grants and received 33 awards totaling $1,311,617.
Riley acknowledged the difficulty of securing grant funding and announced that SRU is contracting with McNeese to assist with finding and writing grants.
“We are now contracting with McNeese, and they are helping us write grants, find grants and I think we’ll see another big jump next year in grant productivity,” said Riley.
New initiatives
Riley stressed the importance of transparency at the state of the university speeches. Inspired by community feedback, Riley included a “You Asked for It” section that gives direct follow-ups on requests from faculty, staff and students.
One addition was Pizza with the President, which replaces the Temperature Committee and provides opportunities for faculty feedback. The initiative will use random email selection to hear a variety of faculty voices at least once a semester.
“This gives everyone a different kind of voice,” said Riley.
SRU is also changing its marketing to be more contemporary, implementing student and alumni profiles to highlight student perspectives, as well as continuing to update technology in classrooms and aiming to decrease cybersecurity risks through both awareness training and system prevention.
Mental health and wellness was another focus of the address. Patricia Buckner Jackson, affectionately known as Dr. PBJ, will visit SRU on Oct. 15 to give a presentation and conduct a workshop with the university’s administrative council.
“She is a lot of fun, but she comes with some very clear ways to help us with our own mental health and wellbeing,” said Riley.
SRU previously worked with Sports Locker for merchandise production and now works with BSN Sports. Sports Locker offered SRU the opportunity to purchase its remaining retail inventory at an 80% discount, which the university accepted. The merchandise was offered to the facilities group, clerical staff, police, library staff and technology staff.
Riley also discussed progress in filling several positions at SRU.
Interviews for a chief human resources officer have concluded. Riley stated that she hopes to make an offer soon.
The search for a chief information technology officer is still ongoing, though Riley said she hopes the position will be filled quickly.
The search for a dean of the College of Education has not yet begun, but is expected to launch within the next several months.
Financial planning
Vice President for Finance and Administration, Carrie Birckbichler, discussed the financial state of the university. SRU ended with a positive bottom line for 25-26, according to Birckbichler.
Birckbichler then discussed the 2026-2027 budget draft with projected numbers and percentages, and addressed the possibility of paying off $5 million of the $19,962,497 in outstanding E&G system principle.
“We are currently looking at the feasibility of paying off five million of our outstanding debt,” Birckbichler said. “That would be a strategic use of our reserves. It would be a reduction in our reserves of 5.5 million dollars, where we’re looking at a bottom line of a balanced budget.”
This plan would start paying off in 2033, with savings projected at 32%, according to Birckbichler.
“This is not an immediate return…but we are looking at that as a way to create some flexibility into the future,” said Birckbichler.
Riley recognizes that faculty, staff and shareholders are likely interested in how the budget draft was created and announced a budget workshop to discuss this.
“[The workshop] will go through; this is how the money goes in, this is how the money comes out, so that you have a very, very clear understanding of what our budget looks like,” said Riley.
Conclusion
Riley ended the speech by encouraging her audience to commit to the future of SRU.
“It starts with me. I’m committed to this. I’ve already made this decision. We need to act. Now, the rest is just pushing through. That’s what I would ask of you,” Riley said. “I’m not asking you to work longer. And some of you can’t even work harder. But what I am saying is, when you’re here, when you’re committed, are you committed to excellence?”
“I have faith in you,” she said. “I have faith in us. We will continue to beat the trend. But we will need to do it all together.”
