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Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Faculty, Staff and Years of Service awards - April 23, 2024

 

Dear faculty and staff,

Please save the date to join us for the Faculty, Staff, and Years of Service Awards ceremony.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024
3:00 - 4:00 pm
Kirby Ballroom
Refreshments will be served

Awards include:
Undergraduate Faculty Advisor Award
Graduate Faculty Advisor Award
Outstanding Staff Awards
Outstanding Staff Team Award
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching
Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Public Service
Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Research/Creative Activity

Faculty & Staff Years of Service Awards for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40+
Horace T. Morse - University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education


Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of our UMD employee community!

Note: to make disability-related accommodations or dietary requests, please contact Carlee Williams at cwillia1@d.umn.edu or 218-726-6202 at least two weeks prior to the event.


Sincerely,

Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Monday, February 12, 2024

Presidential Finalists - Feb 13, Feb 15, Feb 20

 

Dear campus community, 

At the Board of Regents meeting on Friday, the Regents selected finalists for the next University president. The three finalists will visit all five campuses over the next two weeks. Our first visit will be Tuesday, February 13. 

I encourage everyone to attend these sessions and take the opportunity to engage with each of the finalists. 

Tuesday, February 13 - James Holloway, Ph.D
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Duluth Campus Forum
Kirby Ballroom, Kirby Student Center

Link to livestream.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Duluth Open House
Kirby Ballroom, Kirby Student Center

Thursday, February 15 - Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Duluth Campus Forum
Weber Music Hall

Link to livestream.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Duluth Open House
Romano Gymnasium Lobby

Tuesday, February 20 - Rebecca Cunningham, M.D. 
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Duluth Campus Forum
Weber Music Hall

Link to livestream.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Duluth Open House
Romano Gymnasium Lobby

In addition to the in-person events, the Board of Regents is also accepting comments and feedback, as they have throughout the process, on the Presidential Search website.

Thanks in advance for your participation in this important search. 

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Leadership update

 

Dear colleagues, 

I hope the semester is going well for you. I sure feel the rush and energy of the spring semester. I am writing today with an important update that brings with it some mixed emotions. 

After nearly 13 years of service to UMD and a very successful career in student affairs, Dr. Lisa Erwin, our vice chancellor for student life and dean of students, has informed me of her intent to retire this coming July. Lisa is a passionate, dedicated, tenacious, and steadfast leader for this campus. She is a respected leader across the U of M System and an extremely valued member of my leadership team. In 2022, her work was recognized by receiving the U of M System President’s Award for Outstanding Service. 

She has earned respect and accolades within her field and with colleagues across the nation. Lisa earned two distinguished awards from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators with the NASPA Pillar of the Profession in 2016 and the
Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean in 2021.

Lisa continuously thinks about students and student outcomes. She has mentored and impacted many students over her time here at UMD and in her previous work before coming to UMD. She embodies student success in everything she does. Under her leadership, UMD launched the Student Life Wellbeing Initiative which connected Student Life programming across all areas to support student mental health and overall wellbeing. Lisa also worked with colleagues on the physical facility transformation of student-centered spaces including, the Ven Den, Superior Dining, Kirby Student Center, Richard Haney Multipurpose Rink, and the transportation hub. Her impact, thoughtful planning, strategic vision, and genuine care for our students will be felt for years. 

Please join me in congratulating Lisa on her career, her incredible impacts to this campus, the U of M system, as well as our students. Congratulations to Lisa on her well-deserved retirement!

I will provide future updates on the leadership transition as they take shape over the semester.  

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Friday, December 15, 2023

Have a great winter break!

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

Just a quick note as we wrap up the fall semester. I hope you all have a great winter break and are able to unplug, relax, and reenergize over the semester break. 

To our students who graduate this semester: congratulations! We wish you the very best and are grateful that you’ve shared this part of your journey with us. Remember, you’re always a Bulldog.

This video is a little winter greeting from Champ, who was pretty excited that we at least had a little snow earlier in the semester. For a captivating high definition version of Champ’s greeting, you can watch it online here.

Thank you for a great end to our academic year. 

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Update on Chancellor's Council on Campus Culture

 

Dear colleagues,

Earlier this fall, I explained to campus that I would not be restarting the search for a senior level DEI officer but rather wanted to utilize the climate survey results as a basis for a group to examine the climate challenges UMD faces and what next steps might best serve this campus in addressing those issues.

The Office of Equity and Diversity recently made the climate survey results available to UMD leadership. As we wrap up the fall semester and head into the new year, you can expect to hear more about survey results for your division or college from your vice chancellor or dean. 

The Chancellor's Council on Campus Culture (4C) has been formed to lead survey analysis for the campus climate survey results. Here is the membership and charge for this group. These council members represent divisions, colleges, and commissions from across our campus community and bring a diversity of experiences that includes each of their valuable efforts to make UMD more inclusive. This group will have its first meeting in early January. During the spring semester, I expect they will provide opportunities for you to engage with the survey results and shape their recommendations for the actions and organizational change UMD must undertake to realize our goal to “advance equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice within the campus community.”

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Event Reminders: Town Halls and End of Semester Buffet

 

Good afternoon colleagues,

Just a quick reminder for a few events happening next week:

December 5:
End of Semester Buffet (featuring a breakfast for lunch menu):
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Kirby Ballroom
If you would like to bring a donation for Champ's Cupboard, some specific needs are: peanut butter, canned fruit and meat, soups (preferably non-chicken noodle), cereal, beans, noodles, international and gluten-free items.

December 6:
Town halls:
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.        Kirby Ballroom; in person town hall
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.          Virtual town hall; please sign up on this registration link

The town halls will provide updates to key campus initiatives and allow time for discussion. To help facilitate that discussion, you may submit questions ahead of time. Please note that similar questions will be grouped together and questions will be taken in person as well.

Note: to make disability-related accommodations or dietary requests, please contact Carlee Williams at cwillia1@d.umn.edu.

Thank you and I hope to see you next week.

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Town Halls rescheduled from Nov 13 to Dec 6

Good afternoon colleagues,

I am writing to let you know that I have decided to shift the campus town hall meetings from November 13 to December 6. The campus town halls previously scheduled for November 13 will now be:

December 6:
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.        Kirby Ballroom; in person town hall
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.          Virtual town hall; please sign up on this registration link

We have a lot of things going on this academic year around our budget and structural review. Between PEAK and the academic program array analysis (APAA), we could use a couple more weeks to work through additional details. There was solid work done at the collegiate level and I want to be sure to allow adequate time for review so we can build upon the collaborative dialogue to enhance the data and analysis. I believe that the town halls in early December will provide a better perspective and allow for a clearer understanding of action items to be developed next semester. 

Engagement Survey
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the employee engagement survey. Our current response rate is 43% for faculty and 65% for staff.

We appreciate you sharing your insights on the UMD work environment. If you have not yet completed the survey, please take a few moments to finish the survey no later than this Friday, November 3. 

A link to the confidential survey was sent to you by Korn Ferry (UofMNSurvey@qualtrics-survey.com) on October 16. If you cannot find the email or are unable to get the link to work, please contact the employee engagement team at ee2@umn.edu. All responses are confidential and are held by our external vendor. 

The survey is a critical tool to help UMD engage our faculty and staff to ensure we fulfill our mission, meet our strategic goals, and create a positive and rewarding work environment. Thank you for your cooperation and participation. 

Save the Date
Finally, please save the date for our annual End of Semester Buffet, Tuesday, December 5 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. in the Kirby Ballroom.

Sincerely,
Interim Chancellor McMillan Signature
Dave McMillan
Interim Chancellor