Suffolk University Annual Report 2012-2013

12012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT

ANNUALREPORT2012–2013

THE RIGHT PATH


Table of Contents

125

A Path for Our Future: Introduction from President McCarthy

A Summary of the Strategic Plan

Strategic Imperatives

30 Afterword: Where Does the Path Take Us?

32 Financial Statements

4 2012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT 1

As we always tell prospective students, one of the great reasons to come to Suffolk University is our location right in the heart of Boston. The Freedom Trail cuts through our campus and is a perfect example of the synergy between Suffolk and the city.

It’s also a wonderful metaphor, particularly when you look at what’s been happening at Suffolk since October 2012, when we presented a new strategic plan to the entire University community. Since that time, faculty, students, staff, administrators, and alumni have logged countless hours executing the vision laid out in that plan. Now, it’s time for a progress report. How are we doing on this path we’ve mapped out for ourselves?

As you’ll see, we are doing extremely well implementing the many mandates included in the Strategic Plan. There is much still to do, but I want to share some details of our progress in this Annual Report. There are far too many updates to list them all, but the following pages provide some highlights. Also included are University financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year.

On behalf of the administration, I thank the entire University community for working so hard to keep us on the right path and to ensure our success for the future.

A Path forOur Future

James McCarthy President

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2 32012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT 2012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT

On October 11, 2012, we unveiled the University’s new strategic plan to the entire Suffolk community. Titled “Charting the Future: A Plan for Suffolk University 2012‒2017,” this document outlines our mission, vision, core values, and seven strategic imperatives.

The focus of this annual report is the progress we’ve made on the strategic imperatives.

STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES

1 Enhancing Student Success

2 Developing Innovative Global Thinkers

3 Forging Partnerships in Boston and Around the World

4 Promoting Rigorous Teaching and Scholarship

5 Building a Cohesive University

6 Strengthening Professional Governance and Fiscal Responsibility

7 Looking Forward

A full copy of the Strategic Plan may be found at www.suffolk.edu/strategicplan.

A Summary of the Strategic Plan


ENHANCING STUDENT SUCCESS

STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE #1

Provide an integrated, student-centered experience, highlighted by strong mentoring relationships that develop students’ full potential.

When our students succeed, the entire University community succeeds. There has been a great deal of hard work on this important front over the past year.

STUDENT SUCCESS: OUR REASON FOR BEINGAs part of the restructuring of the Office of the Provost, the University tapped Professor Sebastián Royo to be our new vice provost for student success. His role is to ensure that existing resources are allocated in the most effective manner and that new resources are identified to achieve all of the Strategic Plan’s goals associated with student success, reten-tion and achievement, and career development.

Toward that end, we created the Division of Student Success, which brings together the key groups that have a major influence on successful student outcomes. This new division comprises:

Center for Learning and Academic Success

Undergraduate Academic Advising Center

Career Development Center

Center for International Programs & Services

Center for Academic Access & Opportunity

Bringing these groups together allows us to operate more effectively and collaboratively as we support our students throughout their Suffolk careers.

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Because health and wellness directly correlate to student success, the Office of Health and Wellness was restructured to integrate physical and mental health services and to provide round-the-clock access to emergency services. The University hired licensed psychologist Jean Joyce-Brady as the new director of the Health, Wellness, and Counseling office; she is leading this new integrated depart-ment in delivering quality physical and mental health care for our students.

A NEW SHARED CURRICULUMThe University established a joint Sawyer Business School/College of Arts & Sciences task force for the creation of the new general education curriculum. This task force set out to redesign the core curriculum and determine a shared set of skills and knowledge that all undergraduate students must demonstrate upon graduation.

The task force developed goals and objectives for this core curriculum that have been approved by both schools. The task force also met regularly during summer 2013 to finish the core curriculum’s design and definition. This is a first for the University and demonstrates the new spirit and effectiveness of cross-school efforts.

Suffolk is creating an innovative and focused shared core curriculum for all undergraduates.

A Suffolk student enjoys a calming visit with therapy dogs, provided by the Center for Learning & Academic Success.

“ Professor Sebastián Royo from the College of

Arts & Sciences is leading the new Division of Student Success.

The curriculum task force demonstrates a new spirit and effectiveness of cross-school efforts.


DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE GLOBAL THINKERS


Offer an education that blends theory and practice and prepares students to be innovative thinkers who can succeed in a rapidly evolving employment landscape and in an increasingly global community.

Whether our students learn with us in Boston, Madrid, or online, they need an education that prepares them for the real world. Toward that end, we’re making sure our offerings are infused with the spirit of innovation and globalization.

FROM BOSTON TO THE WORLD Studying abroad is an ideal way to gain intercul-tural understanding. The newly renamed Center for International Programs & Services, now part of the Division of Student Success, offered 60 study-abroad programs on five continents in 2012–2013. Our global partner institutions are located in Japan, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Taiwan, South Africa, and New Zealand. Twenty-one of these programs were new, and additional agreements are pending. Increasingly, our programs feature an internship component, allowing students to gain work experi-ence in foreign countries.

The Suffolk University Madrid Campus continues to thrive, welcoming both traditional study-abroad participants and select freshmen who can complete up to two years of their Suffolk undergraduate degrees in Spain.

Like their peers in Boston and elsewhere, Suffolk Madrid students participate in internships.

Suffolk Madrid students enjoy experiential learning opportunities throughout Spain, such as field trips that take Environmental Biology students to explore the rich biodiversity of the Sierra de Guadarrama region.

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Suffolk Madrid continues to provide a uniquely intercultural education to select freshman and study-abroad students.


A VARIETY OF GLOBAL EXPERIENCESThe College’s New England School of Art & Design (NESAD) continues to offer summer courses in Europe in art history, painting, and photojournalism.

The Business School’s popular Global Travel Seminar Program gives students international business exposure through short-term, faculty-led visits to business centers around the world.

Suffolk Law students take part in the Summer Global Internship Program, offered through our partnership with the Austria-based Center for International Legal Studies. The Law School is launching its new International and Comparative Law and Legal Practice Fellowship program, featuring a specialized training course geared toward students interested in pursuing public interest-oriented international internships. Plus, the Suffolk Public Interest Law Group International Fellowship sends students abroad each summer.

A partnership with Banco Santander provides scholarships for Suffolk University students studying abroad in international academic programs. The Santander Universities Scholar Program at Suffolk University has provided study-abroad opportunities to well over 100 students in the College and the Business School in the past two academic years. Suffolk Law students also were able to gain critical international legal experience through Santander International Law Scholarships.

AN INNOVATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH…The Law School launched the Institute on Law Practice Technology and Innovation in spring 2013. The Institute is dedicated to studying how technol-ogy is transforming legal practice and preparing law students for the 21st-century workplace.

…AND A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY METHODKnowledge and experience are being shared across the University. Students in the Law School’s Intellectual Property Clinic have teamed up with the Sawyer Busi-ness School’s Entrepreneurship program in a multidis-ciplinary approach to solving IP issues.

And as microhousing units gain a foothold in Boston, students from the Business School and NESAD teamed up to explore the viability of these tiny but more affordable apartments. Design students even built a to-scale floor plan of a micro-unit that was displayed in a forum hosted at the Modern Theatre.

Like many of his colleagues at Suffolk, Shahriar Khaksari, professor of finance in the Sawyer Business School, feels that teaching our students how to be

prepared for global challenges is an essential part of a Suffolk education.


FORGING PARTNERSHIPS IN BOSTON AND AROUND THE WORLD


Leverage our borderless campus located in Boston to develop local, national, and global experiential learning and career opportunities for our students.


One key component to Suffolk’s success is our loca-tion right in the heart of downtown Boston. Thanks to this geographical advantage, our students benefit from partnerships with some of the most interesting and exciting organizations in Boston and beyond.

UNIVERSITY POLL WORKERS CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECTStarted in 2006 and directed by Government Department Chair Rachael Cobb, this program part-ners with Boston’s Election Department to recruit and train students to serve as poll workers on Elec-tion Day. In 2012, a presidential election year, more than 100 students took part, distributing ballots, checking in voters, translating for non-English speakers, and assisting voters with disabilities.

BUILDThe Sawyer Business School’s Center for Entrepre-neurship partnered with BUILD—a program that engages underserved high school students through entrepreneurial projects—to sponsor a three-day entrepreneurship boot camp. Led by Entrepreneur-ship Programs Director George Moker and BUILD faculty, the program offered practical consulting experience with a local startup that turns t-shirts into quilts.

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Partnerships are an essential component of a Suffolk education.“


HOUSING DISCRIMINATION TESTING PROGRAMThe US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced two grants totaling $275,000 for Suffolk University Law School’s Housing Discrimination Testing Program, which follows a $150,000 grant received in 2012. More than 70 fair housing testers, most of them students, have been trained and have conducted more than 70 fair housing tests in the past year.

RADIATION SCIENCEThe Medical Dosimetry and Radiation Therapy clinical programs are a collaboration between the Suffolk University Physics Department and several top hospitals: Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and others. This year, we have a new link to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) through a Suffolk Physics alumna, who will teach a course called Radia-tion Biology in the spring. She also has offered three of our Radiation Science students internships at BIDMC.

BOSTON HERALDThe University worked with the Herald and broadcast partner New England Cable News to present the only televised Boston mayoral forum with the 12 candi-dates before September’s preliminary election. The forum provided an opportunity for Suffolk students to gain valuable practical experience.

The University also partnered with the Herald to launch “Press Party,” a weekly roundtable analysis of how the media covers the news, produced out of

Suffolk’s 73 Tremont Street broadcast studio and air-ing on www.bostonherald.com. The program provides an opportunity for students to work and learn along-side seasoned Herald journalists.

JUDICIAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMEach year, dozens of first-year Suffolk Law students get the chance to work with judges around New England and gain invaluable experience. Suffolk is one of the only law schools to offer such a robust judicial internship for first-year law students. This past summer, a record 120 students participated.

INTERNSHIP AFFILIATIONS The newly renamed Career Development Center has developed relationships with hundreds of employers who hire Suffolk students for internships and full-time jobs. Internship developments of note over the past 18–24 months include:

Fidelity Investments—Suffolk is working with Fidelity’s college recruiting staff to support the high-profile LEAP Program, designed to provide internships and full-time rotational opportunities for information systems students.

Deloitte—Through our alumni network, Deloitte is now interviewing Suffolk accounting and tax stu-dents for internship and full-time opportunities.

HubSpot—Students representing the marketing and IT fields participated in a spring site visit to marketing software company HubSpot. The Center is working to form a career development relationship with HubSpot through our alumni network.

THE WASHINGTON CENTERDating back to 1978, one of Suffolk’s oldest partners is the Washington Center, which matches students with full-time internships and short-term academic seminars in Washington, DC. This past year, interns were placed in the southern Africa bureau of the State Department, dealt with the government shut-down in the Department of the Interior, and trans-lated Haitian-Creole news stories for the Voice of America. Former interns have gone on to leadership positions in Massachusetts, Washington, and around the world.

Government Department Chair Rachael Cobb (inset right) arranged for her students to ask questions of

the candidates during the mayoral forum.


PROMOTING RIGOROUS TEACHING AND SCHOLARSHIP



Develop, recognize, and reward excellence in teaching and in scholarship.

A curriculum that’s serving students well should exist in several states. On one hand, it needs to be solid: replete with knowledge, scholarship, and foundation-al learning. On the other hand, it needs to be fluid: constantly adapting and evolving to meet the needs of students as they head into an ever-changing work world. At Suffolk, we strive for both.

ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF OUR PROGRAMSLast year, the University chose Professor Jeff Pokorak to take on the newly created position of vice provost of faculty and curriculum development. In January 2012, he began providing strategic leadership and oversight for academic program review; graduate and undergraduate curriculum efficiency and ef-fectiveness; and faculty development in the areas of research, scholarship, and teaching excellence.

We’ve begun regular review of our programs to ensure that all of our academic offerings are directly relevant to our mission and are operating with maximum effectiveness and efficiency.

The vice provost for faculty and curriculum develop-ment worked with the Faculty Senate to consider pro-gram review options and drafted a program review process, which is being implemented in 2013–2014.

He also is working with the associate provost for institutional research and assessment and the senior vice president for finance and administration and treasurer to develop metrics we can apply to program review to ensure “like-analysis procedures.”

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George C. Moker is an instructor of management and entrepreneurship and director of Suffolk’s Entrepreneurship Programs.


SUPPORTING FACULTY RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIPExternal support, including grants, is a key indicator of the quality of our faculty. As University programs draw greater outside funding, their reputations improve; with enhanced reputations, these programs will at-tract even more funding. At the same time, grant fund-ing has the potential to become a critical alternative source of revenue to ease the University’s dependence on tuition.

Under the direction of Mary Pat Wohlford, the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs has dramati-cally increased proposal development. The office has engaged faculty, staff, and others in thinking about outside funding opportunities. In addition, the office has begun working with senior development staff, including the senior vice president for advancement, to accelerate proposal development and ensure a more fully orchestrated and integrated institutional extramural funding portfolio.

Since January 2013, more than 46 proposals have been submitted, more than doubling the number submitted last year.

To date, 24 of those proposals have been awarded—a funded rate of 56 percent—compared to 17 proposals for all of last year.

The University in calendar year 2013 is on target to request nearly $25 million, compared to just over $6 million requested last year.

In addition, the Center for Teaching Excellence launched a new program called Alternative Spring Break: Faculty Edition. Faculty attended a series of workshops over two days with topics such as using research assistants, finding and applying for grant funding, using reference software, and understand-ing the Institutional Review Board system at Suffolk. This program was collaboratively planned with the provost’s office, the associate deans from all three schools, the Office of Research & Sponsored Pro-grams, and the Sawyer Library.

As vice provost for faculty and curriculum develop-ment, Jeff Pokorak provides strategic leadership and oversight for academic program review; graduate and undergraduate curriculum efficiency and effectiveness; and faculty development in the areas of research, scholarship, and teaching excellence.

Some of the grant requests that were awarded this year include:

The Moakley Center for Public Management received funding to provide certificate training in local government leadership.

In the Psychology Department, a National Institutes of Health grant will fund the examination of the role of spiritual and religious processes in adolescents’ recovery from substance abuse disorders.

The Sawyer Business School’s Strategy and International Business Department received a grant to examine methodologies for periodic tariff review for energy distribution utilities.

The Law School received a series of three grants from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to study housing discrimination.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety awarded the College of Arts & Sciences funding to support a research project aimed at reducing gang and youth violence.

The National Science Foundation provided an award for a scholarship program for Boston Public High School students to study electrical engineering at Suffolk University.

A National Endowment for the Humanities award funds an Enduring Question Course within the Philosophy Department on “What is the meaning of life?”

Suffolk has begun regular review of our programs to ensure that all of our academic offerings are directly relevant to our mission

and are operating with maximum effectiveness and efficiency.


BUILDING A COHESIVE UNIVERSITY


Integrate the Suffolk University community to build unity among students, faculty, staff, and alumni across the University.

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Communication and transparency are key to Suffolk’s success, and the strategic plan outlines the goal of improving communications and unity across the Suffolk community.

OPEN FORUMSPresident McCarthy has held regular town hall meet-ings to discuss strategic direction, operations, and finances; plans for the 20 Somerset Street academic building; and even this annual report. He regularly meets with members of the faculty and adminis-tration in both formal and informal settings. The University continues to communicate student and faculty successes, events, and news through the web-site; email newsletters to employees, students, and alumni; social media; alumni publications; and many other channels.

BRAND AND WEB INITIATIVESAnother improvement on the communication front was the creation of an integrated Suffolk brand to be used consistently across the University. Working with brand strategy firm Sametz Blackstone, the Office of Marketing & Communications led that implementa-tion in fall 2012. The University’s communications previously had reflected the historical divides and organizational silos that existed across the University, with many disconnected logos, designs, and messages.

That disorder has been replaced by a strong and dynamic brand system with approaches to color,

type, imagery, design, and core messaging that tie the University together. Marketing and communication materials are now instantly recognizable as Suffolk University’s. Schools, centers, and programs retain their identity but now fit into a larger whole.

We also developed and launched a dynamic and ro-bust new website that serves to unite the schools and elevate the brand. The website is a critical recruitment tool. It also is a storytelling vehicle that spotlights our success and excellence as well as a functional tool de-signed to quickly get users to the information they’re seeking. The new website launched in phases, start-ing with the main University site in November 2012, followed by the Sawyer Business School, the College of Arts & Sciences, and the Law School. The entire Uni-versity now uses one content management system, which allows for shared content and ease of use.

SEEING THE BIG PICTURESince joining Suffolk in March 2013, Associate Provost for Institutional Research & Assessment Melanie Jenkins has been developing a comprehensive data dashboard. This strategic planning tool will serve as a centralized warehouse for metrics and indica-tors on areas including undergraduate and graduate enrollment, Advancement giving rates, retention, and grants. Publication of this dashboard is anticipated at the end of the 2013–14 academic year.

New Suffolk Logo

Brand identity applied

New suffolk.edu home page

Our new brand identity rolled out University-wide.

232012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT22 2012–2013 ANNUAL REPORT

OPERATING SURPLUSESThrough careful management of finances and op-erations and tight expense controls, the University finished FY12 with a 4.9 percent operating margin.

The University finished FY13 with a 6.2 percent oper-ating surplus. This was achieved even with one of the smallest tuition increases in decades.

MULTI-YEAR FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS The senior vice president for finance and adminis-tration and treasurer developed and proposed to the Board of Trustees Finance Committee a multi-year financial plan that provides for continued positive operating surpluses.

CREDIT RATINGSCredit rating agencies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings all affirmed the University’s bond ratings with a “stable outlook” over the past year, citing the Strategic Plan, consistently positive oper-ating surpluses, and expense controls.

In its most recent report, Standard & Poor’s stated that the University “has done a very good job of controlling expense increases” and cited Suffolk’s “consistently positive operating surplus including its strong performance in 2012.” In a recently released report, Fitch cited the University’s proactive manage-ment team, conservative budgeting, and proactive marketing and program initiatives. In a report last year, Moody’s noted Suffolk’s “consistently solid

operating performance, healthy liquidity, conserva-tive debt structure, and market position.”

AFFORDABILITYTotal costs for undergraduate residential students, in-cluding tuition, room, and board, rose 2.3 percent for the 2013–14 academic year, which is close to the 2.1 percent inflation rate. This was the smallest tuition-and-cost increase among the 10 Boston colleges and universities surveyed by the Boston Business Journal. This reflected the University’s strong financial man-agement and expense-control efforts, including our ability to keep housing costs nearly flat for a fourth consecutive year. Tuition for graduate programs and the Law School increased 2.25 percent.

A STRONG FOCUS ON ADVANCEMENTFor a long time, it has been clear that we needed to do a significantly better job at engaging with our alumni and the external community to begin rais-ing consistently higher donation amounts for the University.

Suffolk’s rate of alumni giving had been in a steady decline since FY04. We halted that steady down-ward trend in FY13. A critical element of this neces-sary change was our recruitment of a senior vice president for advancement to build our capabilities and to more fully integrate the University’s advance-ment, marketing and communications, and external relations efforts.

STRENGTHENING PROFESSIONAL GOVERNANCE AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY


Professionalize the governance of Suffolk University to include consultation with stakeholders about major decisions and trans-parency in management and operations. Manage resources and operations with the utmost fiscal prudence to support the goal of providing educational excellence at a reasonable cost.

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Senior Vice President Steve Morin immediately set forth a plan to create a system for sustainable suc-cess, with a sharp focus within the Advancement Office on raising funds. Under his direction, we are building a culture of fund-raising across the Univer-sity and are encouraging the creation of a habit of philanthropy among alumni and stakeholders.

Within three months of Senior Vice President Morin’s arrival, the Advancement and Alumni Engagement offices were restructured to put people in positions of strength and, importantly, create a team of frontline fund-raisers to directly attack the University’s historic deficit of fund-raising results. Through realignment of occupied and open positions, nine new hires were put in place without increasing the Advancement budget.

REACHING OUT TO ALUMNIWe are reconnecting with our alumni through face-to-face meetings, gatherings, receptions, and events. The University held its first Homecoming weekend in October 2013 to welcome back alumni from near and far with a packed schedule of events and celebrations.

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Steve Morin joined the University in January 2013 as senior vice president for advancement, with oversight

for the offices of Advancement and Alumni Engage-ment, Marketing and Communications, and

Government and Community Affairs.


The University has focused on increasing participa-tion rates and is beginning to raise those rates in almost all categories. For FY13:

Overall alumni participation rose 8 percent, to 6.1 percent

Participation is up 20 percent for College of Arts & Sciences alumni

Participation is up 22 percent for Sawyer Business School alumni

Alumni participation among recent University graduates jumped nearly 70 percent

The number of employees giving rose more than 48 percent

We have set a target of $2.5 million for FY14, which would be a significant percentage increase over both last year and the year before. We are projecting that

the alumni participation rate will increase in the com-ing year, from 6.1 percent to 7.0 percent. An advance-ment implementation plan targets areas of fund-rais-ing promise, namely, alumni in the $1,000-to-$25,000 giving range. And it identifies four untapped areas:

International alumni/parents

Current parents

Faculty and staff

Planned giving

OTHER INITIATIVESWe worked with the Board’s Compensation Committee to launch a comprehensive effort to develop a system for evaluating all senior leaders at the University, including the president, the three senior vice presidents, and the three academic deans.

Gerard “Chip” Coletta, chief of Suffolk University Police and Security

Sharon Britton, Sawyer Library director

Katherine Whidden, chief human resources officer

Melanie Jenkins, associate provost for institutional research and assessment

Mary Pat Wohlford, director, Office of Research & Sponsored Programs

The University made several key leadership appointments this year.“

Tom Lynch, chief information officerBernard Keenan, interim provost Nicole Price, chief diversity and inclusion officer


LOOKING FORWARD



Maintain the traditional nature of a Suffolk education while strategically advancing the use of new technology and innovative pedagogy.

Suffolk has long exhorted its students to “get out of the classroom” and complement their in-class learn-ing with experiential, immersive education. Now we’re beginning to take the classroom out of the classroom, too.

A NEW KIND OF PEDAGOGICAL EXPERIENCEThe Strategic Plan calls for advancing the use of innovative pedagogy and expanding the number of courses, majors, and academic degree programs that include online formats and hybrid platforms.

Hybrid courses, which rely on a combination of online and face-to-face learning, offer significant benefits, especially when it comes to cost. With the hybrid approach, instructional cost drops because the overall class size goes up, with instruction taking place partly online. Yet students still get the benefit of smaller classes in face-to-face course sections.

This style of learning is particularly appropriate for Suffolk students, many of whom have to work to pay for their educations and thus enjoy the convenience of taking the online part of their courses outside of normal class times. And hybrid courses are effective; research shows that they produce outcomes that match or exceed traditional face-to-face courses.

The University first offered an experimental hybrid version to about 60 students in the introductory Statistics course, with the goal of expanding hybrid education in this area to most or all students.

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Suffolk Law School professor Andrew Perlman using Google Glassto further interactive learning by taking student questions by text message.


We have outlined a goal for the University to offer up to 20 percent of undergraduate education in hybrid form within five years. To that end, in fall 2012, the Center for Teaching Excellence created a six-week Hybrid Course Design Institute, one of the first insti-tutes of its kind in the United States. The program was piloted in spring 2013 with 12 participants rep-resenting faculty members, administrators, and in-structional technologists from all three schools. They learned best practices for creating an online structure for a hybrid course, as well as techniques for design-ing online assignments and assessment tools.

To date, three sessions of the Hybrid Course Design Institute have trained 30 faculty and administrators in hybrid teaching and learning. Thus far, faculty re-sponse to this program has been very positive. Depart-ments that now offer hybrid courses include Computer Science, English, Government, History, Math, Physics and other science courses, and Statistics.

A NEW APPROACH TO TEACHINGSuffolk is planning our first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): History Flows Through Boston. The online course, to be taught by History Department Chair and noted historian Robert Allison, is particu-larly suited to community involvement in education and will enhance our local, regional, national, and international reputation and visibility.

BUILDING FOR THE FUTUREWorking closely with the Suffolk Board of Trustees and members of its Building Committee, we

are well on our way to completing a major new 112,000-square-foot academic building at 20 Somerset Street. The project will address two important University goals:

It will provide state-of-the-art, flexible, and technology-enhanced instructional space for science and general study.

It will consolidate classroom space, allowing the University to remove all academic classroom activity from the residential part of Beacon Hill.

The 20 Somerset academic building will be designed with innovative classroom space, including elec-tronic whiteboards and active learning pods where students can work in teams and project materials onto screens around the classrooms. It will have indoor and outdoor lounging and study areas and a light-filled cafeteria/function space fully visible from Somerset Street. A renovated Roemer Plaza adjacent to the new building will act as the University’s first “quad” with green space and will provide a visual link to the Sawyer Building.

ADDITIONALLY:The University successfully renegotiated a lease extension for the New England School of Art & Design at its current 75 Arlington Street location.

The University launched a comprehensive review of Suffolk’s complete property portfolio, aimed at further reducing operating costs and deferred maintenance.

“The new 20 Somerset building will include a light-filled café, student- support services, and indoor and outdoorlounging areas.


We have built a stronger organization that will allow us to address major challenges and opportunities ahead of us. With that solid structure now in place, we are preparing to make strategic investments in our future.

Investments in signature programs that provide distinction for Suffolk University will be key, as will strategic marketing efforts that elevate the Univer-sity’s reputation, boost enrollment, and drive alumni engagement and fund-raising.

The stage is set to begin diversifying our revenue base by finding additional funding sources through gifts, grants, and contracts that will ease the Univer-sity’s historic overreliance on tuition revenue.

We are building an organization and culture that embrace faculty scholarship and support it by seek-ing grants and other external funding sources. At the same time, we are deepening our commitment

to effective philanthropy, with much more extensive outreach to alumni and donors. We are confident that the foundation laid this year will begin to pay off next year and even more dramatically in the future.

As we seek new funding to help launch the new programs and initiatives that will secure the Uni-versity’s long-term future, we must continue—and enhance— the fiscal discipline that has characterized recent years at Suffolk. We must ensure that every new dollar raised through philanthropy or sponsored programs and every tuition dollar paid are used with the greatest possible efficiency.

We are building an organization that supports stronger student outcomes, from academic success to retention to health and wellness to career guidance and job placement. We are investing in our future through the use of new teaching technology, courses that correlate to changing career opportunities, and

the construction of a state-of-the-art academic build-ing. And we have structured our financial operations for sustainable success. In short, Suffolk University is robust, and we are poised to make strategic invest-ments that will build an even more vigorous University going forward.

Suffolk has more than 100 years of experience as an effective University that transforms the lives of students and their families. Through careful steward-ship, our finances remain secure. We believe that we are well equipped to weather the storms currently blowing through higher education and that we can emerge from these challenging times as a stronger, more focused, and sustainable institution.

Where Does the Path Take Us?


Assets 2013 2012Cash and cash equivalents $ 5,017,116 789,586Student, notes, and pledges receivable, net 18,764,246 20,538,453Deferred charges and other assets 6,068,495 6,455,149Investments 220,716,407 195,154,461Deposits with bond trustees 82,695,861 85,383,200Property, buildings, and equipment, net 319,770,169 315,950,121

Total Assets $ 653,032,294 624,270,970

Liabilities and Net AssetsLiabilities: Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 26,998,429 24,736,169 Deferred revenue and student deposits 8,582,690 8,733,478 Bonds and mortgage payable 355,478,323 357,403,508 Refundable US government grants 4,987,430 5,051,862

Total Liabilities 396,046,872 395,925,017

Net Assets: Unrestricted 222,124,478 196,291,388 Temporarily restricted 5,235,272 2,977,323 Permanently restricted 29,625,672 29,077,242

Total Net Assets 256,985,422 228,345,953

Total Liabilities and net assets $ 653,032,294 624,270,970

Temporarily Permanently 2013 Unrestricted restricted restricted TotalOperating:Revenues: Tuition and fees $ 281,717,865 — — 281,717,865 Residence halls and dining 20,763,205 — — 20,763,205 Less scholarship aid (77,451,245) — — (77,451,245) Net tuition and fees 225,029,825 — 225,029,825

Contributions 1,486,755 — — 1,486,755 Endowment spending for operatons 3,375,000 — — 3,375,000 Other investment income 372,518 — — 372,518 Building rental income 1,256,959 — — 1,256,959 Other sources 979,394 — — 979,394 Federal, state, and other grants and contracts 4,305,505 — — 4,305,505 Net assets released from restrictions 304,767 (304,767) — —

Total operating revenues 237,110,723 (304,767) — 236,805,956

Expenses: Instruction 78,632,786 — — 78,632,786 Public service 3,415,619 — — 3,415,619 Academic support 54,460,151 — — 54,460,151 Student services 30,985,615 — — 30,985,615 Institutional support 40,123,874 — — 40,123,874 Residence halls and dining 14,448,456 — — 14,448,456

Total expenses 222,066,501 — — 222,066,501

Increase (decrease) in net assets from operating activities 15,044,222 (304,767) — 14,739,455

Nonoperating:Long-term investment return 11,431,835 3,670,843 — 15,102,678Endowment spending for operatons (3,375,000) — — (3,375,000)Net assets released from restrictions 1,143,408 (1,143,408) — —Contributions 416,346 35,281 548,430 1,000,057Postretirement benefit obligation changes other than net periodic costs 1,172,279 — — 1,172,279

Increase in net assets from nonoperating activities 10,788,868 2,562,716 548,430 13,900,014

Change in net assets 25,833,090 2,257,949 548,430 28,639,469

Net assets at beginning of year 196,291,388 2,977,323 29,077,242 228,345,953

Net assets at end of year $ 222,124,478 5,235,272 29,625,672 256,985,422

Statement of ActivitiesYear ended June 30, 2013

Statements of Financial PositionJune 30, 2013, and 2012

FINANCIAL STATEMENTSFINANCIAL STATEMENTS


FINANCIAL STATEMENTSFINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Temporarily Permanently 2012 Unrestricted restricted restricted TotalOperating:Revenues: Tuition and fees $ 278,733,752 — — 278,733,752 Residence halls and dining 20,960,100 — — 20,960,100 Less scholarship aid (70,387,121) — — (70,387,121) Net tuition and fees 229,306,731 — — 229,306,731

Contributions 1,728,322 — — 1,728,322 Endowment spending for operatons 3,094,780 — — 3,094,780 Other investment income 420,896 — — 420,896 Building rental income 1,072,765 — — 1,072,765 Other sources 1,163,417 — — 1,163,417 Federal, state, and other grants and contracts 4,756,392 — — 4,756,392 Net assets released from restrictions 106,767 (106,767) — — Total operating revenues 241,650,070 (106,767) — 241,543,303

Expenses: Instruction 79,905,724 — — 79,905,724 Public service 3,745,770 — — 3,745,770 Academic support 53,953,397 — — 53,953,397 Student services 32,242,849 — — 32,242,849 Institutional support 44,486,156 — — 44,486,156 Residence halls and dining 15,372,321 — — 15,372,321

Total expenses 229,706,217 — — 229,706,217

Increase (decrease) in net assets from operating activities 11,943,853 (106,767) — 11,837,086

Nonoperating:Long-term investment return 831,894 304,967 — 1,136,861Endowment spending for operatons (3,094,780) — — (3,094,780)Net assets released from restrictions 1,629,843 (1,629,843) — —Contributions 1,610,721 1,253,003 598,191 3,461,915Postretirement benefit obligation changesother than net periodic costs (1,780,114) — — (1,780,114)Reclassification of net assets — (71,370) 71,370 —

Increase (decrease) in net assets from nonoperating activities (802,436) (143,243) 669,561 (276,118)

Change in net assets 11,141,417 (250,010) 669,561 11,560,968

Net assets at beginning of year 185,149,971 3,227,333 28,407,681 216,784,985

Net assets at end of year $ 196,291,388 2,977,323 29,077,242 228,345,953

Statement of ActivitiesYear ended June 30, 2012

2013 2012Cash flows from operating activities:Change in net assets $ 28,639,469 11,560,968Adjustments to reconcile change in net assets to net cash provided byoperating activities: Depreciation and amortization 10,474,225 10,157,130 Postretirement benefit obligation changes other than net periodic costs (1,172,279) 1,780,114 Net realized and unrealized losses (gains) on investments (11,881,230) 1,647,221 Contributions for long-term purposes (901,809) (755,329) Change in students, notes, and pledges receivable 1,774,207 1,951,573 Change in deferred charges and other assets 234,137 484,356 Change in accounts payable and accrued expenses 2,312,700 (835,909) Change in deferred revenue and student deposits (150,788) (614,576)

Net cash provided by operating activities 29,328,632 25,375,548

Cash flows from investing activities:Purchases of property, buildings, and equipment (12,955,102) (11,979,337)Change in deposits with bond trustees 2,687,339 110,998Purchase of investments (14,906,344) (51,323,888)Proceeds from sales of investments 1,225,628 38,857,427

Net cash used in investing activities (23,948,479) (24,334,800)

Cash flows from financing activities:Payments on borrowings (1,990,000) (1,890,000)Contributions designated for long-term purposes 901,809 755,329Change in refundable US government grants (64,432) (84,671)

Net cash used in financing activities (1,152,623) (1,219,342)

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 4,227,530 (178,594)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year 789,586 968,180

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year $ 5,017,116 789,586

Supplemental:Interest paid $ 20,656,310 20,730,333Noncash investing activity – accounts payable attributed to fixed assets 2,578,249 1,456,410

To view the complete, audited financials, visit www.suffolk.edu/annualreport.

Statement of Cash FlowsYear ended June 30, 2013, and 2012


Documents

Suffolk University Annual Report 2012-2013