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Thursday, July 12, 2012

Campus Memo

Dear Campus Community,

I hope you are having a productive and enjoyable summer! As I near the end of my second year at UMD, I would like to thank you for your continued support and for the outstanding work you do every day on behalf of our students and to further our research and public engagement mission. There have been several administrative changes at UMD over the past two years, and many of you have been involved in helping shape my Chancellor's Cabinet team. While other changes in the vice chancellor areas may be announced within the next few months, I wish to share the following updates.

Bill Wade is stepping down as Vice Chancellor for Advancement on July 31. He will take on a new assignment as a major donor development officer and will continue to oversee temporarily the operations of the KUMD radio station. We will celebrate Bill's dedication to UMD at a special campus reception on September 7, with a formal invitation in August. During his tenure at UMD, Bill has overseen university relations, alumni, development, KUMD, and intercollegiate athletics. His many accomplishments and contributions to UMD will be highlighted in future communications regarding the September 7 reception.

After looking closely at the campus organizational structure, I have decided to make the following changes to improve administrative efficiency, effectiveness, and excellence:

• The Vice Chancellor position that Bill Wade held will be eliminated.

• Lucy Kragness has been promoted to Chief of Staff/Associate to the Chancellor, and in this role she will assist me with a wide range of operational issues and projects to ensure the effectiveness of the Chancellor's office and of all units reporting directly to the Chancellor.

• The Development and Alumni offices will continue to work together as an Office of Advancement. Advancement, Athletics, and External Affairs will report directly to the Chancellor with operational oversight and assistance from Lucy Kragness.

• A national search to refill the Director of External Affairs position will begin this month.

Many of you have already met Mike Seymour, who began July 2 as the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations. Please join me in welcoming Mike to campus.

I appreciate how well the campus community has come together to provide a smooth transition for me and for my new administrative team. Working together, we will continue to make significant progress on the Strategic Plan and provide the excellent academic experience that our students expect and deserve.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Lendley C. Black


Monday, July 9, 2012

Chancellor's Announcement: Faculty Fellow for Strategic Planning

Dear Campus Community:

I am pleased to announce that Dr. John A. Arthur has been chosen to be the new Chancellor's Faculty Fellow for Strategic Planning effective August 1, 2012. Dr. Arthur is well qualified to take our planning initiatives to the next stages of implementation and to provide a faculty perspective to the Chancellor's Cabinet. Dr. Arthur is a professor of sociology-anthropology and is the founding director of the African and African American Studies Program. He has been a faculty member at UMD since 1993, and he has served in several administrative positions including as department chair and as director of the Study in England program. He has a Ph.D. in sociology from Pennsylvania State University, a master's degree from the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada, and a law and sociology degree from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

Dr. Arthur will work closely this fall with Dr. Denny Falk, the outgoing Faculty Fellow. I would like to recognize the outstanding work of Dr. Falk over the past two years. He assisted me in each phase of creating the strategic plan and was a tireless advocate for an inclusive planning process. He has also made several other contributions to my administrative team. I would also like to thank Professor John Hamlin, Instructor Michael Mullins, Associate Professor Joyce Strand, and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Andrea Schokker for assisting me with the selection of the new Faculty Fellow.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Arthur on his new appointment and in thanking Dr. Falk for his many contributions to UMD.

Sincerely,

Chancellor Lendley C. Black


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Statement from the University of Minnesota Duluth on the Un-Fair Campaign

Statement from the University of Minnesota Duluth on the Un-Fair Campaign

Contacts: Chuck Tombarge, University News Service, (612) 624-5551

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (07/03/2012) --The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) has indefinitely suspended its membership in the Duluth-area Un-Fair Campaign pending a change in the campaign's emphasis and creative approach. The campaign's recent public service announcement (PSA) and its focus on white privilege are divisive and have alienated some UMD alumni, supporters and others in the broader community.

At UMD Chancellor Lendley C. Black's request, the controversial public service announcement was pulled from the campaign's website on June 28 (it had not been aired publicly). Representatives from the 18 partners of the Un-Fair Campaign met on Monday, July 2. While they reaffirmed the group's fundamental goals to promote racial equality and create a constructive dialogue about eliminating racism, they also recognize the messaging and creative emphasis has been divisive. A subcommittee has been formed to reassess the messaging. The partners will reconvene on July 17 to discuss whether to change the creative direction.

UMD continues to advance its strategic goal of creating a positive and inclusive campus climate for all by advancing equity, diversity and social justice 
(http://www.d.umn.edu/chancellor/planning/). UMD also remains committed to collaborating with area educational, civic and social service agency colleagues on productive approaches to these challenging issues.