We have payrolls to meet, bills to pay, products and services to price, buildings to maintain, technology to integrate, competition to face, and customer needs to satisfy. And we work hard every year to stay within our budget. Bankruptcy is not an option for us. By most measures, we are a successful business. Despite rising costs, the University of Wyoming continues to be the educational institution of choice for Wyomingites.
Surveys continue to show high levels of customer satisfaction.
We have developed significant new courses and choices to meet market demands. Private fund-raising is up, having more than doubled already this year over what we raised last year. We're good, but we intend to get better. No organization and no business grows without periodically engaging in a thorough self-examination of its mission, market, products, services, and capabilities. In my installation address last October, I talked about the need for comprehensive academic planning so that we can assess our strengths and weaknesses, examine the market for our services, and develop a long-range plan for the University.