St. Edward’s University is making swift progress toward achieving its goals for 2015, the university’s president said at the spring president’s meeting.

George Martin’s Feb. 23 presentation touched on a wide variety of topics and was organized around the four tenets of the 2015 Strategic Plan – Holy Cross heritage, resource development, academics and global expansion.

Martin said one of the primary goals of the university is to reaffirm the Holy Cross Catholic heritage of the university.

“Going toward 2015, we really want to reaffirm who we are,” Martin said.

The Catholic heritage, however, also includes valuing all human beings as individuals.

Assistant Director of Campus Ministry Larry Atkinson said he was pleased with Martin’s inclusion of Holy Cross values in the 2015 strategic plan.

“To have the values of Holy Cross infused into the SEU Mission Statement and in the strategic priorities assures the continuation of the educational values of creating an international community of young adults who are informed, formed, and transformed to create, as Basil Moreau states, …’a better time,'” Atkinson said in an e-mail.

Martin’s attempt to re-emphasize the university’s Catholic underpinnings came one semester after university rejected gay rights advocacy group Equality Texas for its support of gay marriage, which goes against Catholic teachings.

St. Edward’s is still raising funds for phase two of the John Brooks Williams Natural Sciences Center, which will be built adjacent to the existing phase one building and is tentatively slated to open in the fall of 2012. Thus far, the university has raised $16.9 million.

The university is also nearly one-third of the way to a $3 million renovation of Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel. The original plan had been to build a new chapel for a price tag of about $8 to $10 million.

“It became clear for a number of years as we attempted to do fundraising for a fully new chapel that it wasn’t going to happen,” said Tony Weber, a director in the Advancement office who is overseeing fundraising efforts for the chapel. Those reasons, Weber added, included donor disinterest in a new chapel and an assessment that said a renovation could increase attendance capacity.

Martin said that there will also be renovations to the outside areas surrounding the chapel, including a walkway and meditation spaces.

Martin touted the accomplishments of faculty in improving the university’s academic prestige, but cautioned against complacency.

“(The academics) are really good, but they have to get better,” Martin said. “And we always have to get better to fulfill our mission.”

One way that academics can imrpove is to look into reorganizing some academic schools. For example, Martin said, Fr. Lou Brusatti, the dean of the School of Humanities, has to evaluate 60-plus faculty members. That number, Martin said, is excessive, and will need to be changed in the future.

Martin also honored individual students’ academic achievements during the year. Currently, the university has six Fulbright finalists who are awaiting approval from the host countries to which they applied.

Martin also reiterated plans to “expose our students to other parts of the world” and prepare students to be part of an international community.

St. Edward’s recently added a reciprocal exchange program in Japan. Martin said the university is in talks to create similar relationships with universities in Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Dominican Republic, England, Ghana, Indonesia and Spain.

Other Facts from Martin:

•Retirement benefits at St. Edward’s have been improved. The employee contributes 5 percent to the account while St. Edward’s matches with 7 percent. In addition, retired employees need only wait a year to receive the benefits.

•St. Edward’s is concerned that the Texas Equalization Grant will be cut by the state legislature. Texas is facing between a $15 and $27 billion budget shortfall. Martin encouraged the university community to write legislators in support of the TEG Grant.

•Martin announced the 2011 Unsung Hero Award recipients: Melodee Lujano, administrative coordinator for the Center for Teaching Excellence; Jose Gonzalez Vera, technical support administrator for the Office of Admissions; Edwin Reggio, administrative program coordinator for Auxiliary Services; and Kate Rosati, the administrative coordinator for Humanities and the Center for Ethics and Leadership.

•St. Edward’s is above the national average in 11 of 12 areas in a student satisfaction inventory survey.

•The Business Office will be going paperless by the summer.

•Freshman applications were up 4 percent in the fall, and the percentage of the applicants who are minorities has also increased significantly.

•The number of out-of-state applicants to the university has increased 50 percent.

•St. Edward’s six-year graduation rate is now 68.3 percent, which is four points above the national average.