Simon released her annual State of the University address this week in four online YouTube videos, focusing on budget and finances, students, university engagement and research and graduate studies.

“Failure to imagine is not an option in difficult times,” Simon said in the video. “By tapping into the university’s knowledge, creativity and energy, we can generate a world of possibilities.”

The speeches were delivered via YouTube to take advantage of technology and make them
more accessible to students, she said.

“What we tried to highlight in the videos were the positive things we were doing to try to improve the quality and the value of Michigan State University to its students,” Simon said.

The president also made some general remarks during the 2011 Awards Convocation on Tuesday night.

Gov. Rick Snyder and President Barack Obama both highlighted the need to improve the economy during their annual speeches earlier this year, she said.

“We need to get the economy back on track, and the way to get the economy on track — just like it was when we were founded, is though innovation and cutting-edge knowledge,” Simon said at the convocation.

State appropriations to universities declined 25 percent from 1960 to 2000, Simon said during the video. Between 2000-10, support decreased by another 23 percent — a stark realization of the way Michigan has disinvested in public higher education, she said.

Still, when visitors have come to campus this last year, Simon said they have commented on how great campus looks, without realizing it has maintained that quality with 10 percent to 15 percent less money.

“It’s the capacity of our people to get beyond, ‘Gee whiz, this is awful,’ to, ‘Gee whiz, we’re not going to let these awful circumstances define who we are or our aspirations,’ that really is the heart of the way we’ve planned the budget at Michigan State,” Simon said in the video.

Human biology and Spanish senior Kelly Boyle said university budget cuts have not affected her major, but she has friends studying communicative sciences and disorders who have felt the burn. Her boyfriend, who majors in geological sciences, also has seen significant cuts to his program, she said.

“He was considering going here for grad school,” Boyle said, adding that he’s now looking at other universities.

Throughout each video, Simon also touted the success of the university’s research and graduate students.

Karen Klomparens, dean of the graduate school, said there are more than 1,200 graduate students who work as teaching assistants on campus, directly teaching undergraduates in labs, recitations and classes.

Plus, more undergraduates are becoming involved with research projects and often assist graduate students on their work — something she called a “great partnership.”

“All graduate students are engaged in very focused effort to expand their knowledge in a particular field,” Klomparens said. “That level of intensity … and creative energy rubs off on everybody around them.”

Simon added MSU also is increasing its efforts to create an international atmosphere for its students.

Political science junior Julia Schroeder said she is considering going to graduate school in a foreign country after her time at MSU. Last semester, she especially liked a comparative politics class that focused on governments in other countries, she said.

“It talked about why that works for them, rather than why they should be like us,” Schroeder said.

To view the State of the University videos, visit president.msu.edu.