President Lester Lefton will discuss opportunities and challenges for the coming year during his fourth annual State of the University Address at 4 p.m. in the Kiva.

In his weekly “In A Flash” e-mail to the university, Lefton said he will focus on his ongoing “excellence agenda” and sharing Kent State’s most critical priorities for the year.

For more information, he said you’ll have to be there.

Thursday’s speech comes at a time when the university faces an uncertain financial future, with a possible state shortfall of $8 million for its next biennial term.

It’s also Lefton’s biggest public address since Kent State began laying out plans for extensive renovations, construction projects and a proposed library reconfiguration. In the past few days, he has been fighting for a student fee that would prop up $210 million in bonds for renovations.

In last year’s address, Lefton said he would not be proposing any new major goals for the university, in response to the economic time.

“As I see it, now is not the time to tackle major new initiatives,” Lefton said in last year’s address. “We will be challenged enough as we face realities related to significant cutbacks in state funding and an investment portfolio that was not immune to the ravages of (2008).”

He also asked faculty and staff to continue to do their best to help students, so students can walk away satisfied instead of stressed. He asked everyone to “put excellence into action.”

Today’s speech will be broadcast live on www.kent.edu and at 7 p.m on WKSU-FM. A reception will follow the speech in Room 204 of the Student Center.

Contact Jessica White at [email protected].