North Dakota State President Dean Bresciani gave his annual state of the university address Friday.

The speech was highlighted with one underlying theme: what has changed and improved at NDSU since Bresciani arrived in 2010. He also discussed current research and rankings of NDSU and research that will be happening in years to come.

Since 2010

Bresciani said that jobs in the Research and Tech Park have increased by 15 percent since 2010 to over 1,000 jobs, and that annual salaries have increased for Park employees to a combined $69 million, which is an increase of 35 percent since 2010.

He added that he is “very proud” of the work that NDSU’s research enterprise conducts, and that research expenditures have increased by $28 million since he took office.

“NDSU’s research expenditures increased from $126 million in 2010 to more than $154 million in 2015,” Bresciani said, “That’s an impressive 22 percent increase.

Bresciani said that patents have increased from 40 to 50 filings per year since 2010.

Economic outlook

Bresciani said that approximately 80 percent of NDSU students who are N.D. residents take their first jobs in N.D., and approximately 40 percent of out of state graduates do the same.

“Our mission is to serve every North Dakotan — via education, research, service, extension and experiment station work,” Bresciani said, “And economically, every North Dakotan benefits from the enhanced tax base that comes from a more diverse economy of the high paying jobs our graduates go into after leaving NDSU. Much of our funding comes from outside the state, businesses are drawn here from outside the state, young people so vital to our future are drawn here from outside the state.”

Improvements in education

Bresciani said that this first year class had the “same impressive grade point average and ACT scores as the class of 2010.” He added that the most recent cohort of students has a “first year retention rate of nearly 80 percent,” and that NDSU’s loan default rate is almost four times lower than the national average and has decreased over the previous three years.

Notable guests

Notable guests to Bresciani’s speech included Kathleen Neset, the chair of the State Board of Higher Education, as well as several relatives of A. Glenn Hill, a late school of mathematics dean of which the STEM building was renamed after.