Campus Community:
As we round out another academic year, having graduated 2,300 students in an exhilarating commencement program last weekend, I wish to express appreciation to each of you for another successful year. Our faculty and staff are the most valuable resource we have. Each of you dedicates your talents and energy to ensure we fulfill our mission and provide our students with a transformational experience. Thank you.
I also want to update you in regards to the budget situation. I wish I could tell you with certainty what UMD’s budget for the upcoming year will look like. However, due to the continued state budget discussions at the Capitol, our own budget situation is still unclear. We do know that the state legislature did pass an education bill for Governor Dayton’s approval Sunday night. The bill includes $53 million for the University of Minnesota System, of which $30 million is for the medical school. If passed, this budget allocation would not be sufficient to fund a two-year tuition freeze.
At this point, it is still unclear exactly what our level of state funding will be or how that will impact UMD and our campus community. As this continues to unfold I will keep you apprised. Thank you again for a great academic year. I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Those Who Can Duluth Update
Campus Community:
I would like to provide you an update on our institutional branding campaign and the tagline, Those Who Can Duluth (TWCD), which was launched in September 2012. You may recall that the campus community was surveyed in February-March about the campaign, after I received a number of comments and concerns about TWCD. The recent survey included valuable feedback, and I thank those who participated.
We recently received the survey results and I have asked Lynne Williams, our new director of external affairs, and her team to review the information. While nearly everyone on campus who completed the survey was aware of the TWCD campaign, the perception and understanding of the campaign was mixed, with more negative than positive results. Feedback has identified that while weaknesses exist with the tagline, strong attributes of the TWCD campaign are the concepts and stories it tells, which serve to differentiate UMD from the other UM campuses. I have clearly heard your concerns, and we will address them.
How we communicate about UMD is vitally important, and it is critical for that message to resonate with our external audiences and be endorsed by our internal community. Moving forward, Lynne Williams and her team will analyze the results and look at the various audiences individually. Over the summer, the External Affairs team will make recommendations, which may include further creation and testing of revised and new messaging. We will discuss this with the campus community in the fall, with a goal of having a clear direction by the end of the calendar year. In the meantime, we will diminish the use of TWCD until a new direction forward is determined.
Please contact Lynne at lwilliam@d.umn.edu if you have any questions about this important project.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
I would like to provide you an update on our institutional branding campaign and the tagline, Those Who Can Duluth (TWCD), which was launched in September 2012. You may recall that the campus community was surveyed in February-March about the campaign, after I received a number of comments and concerns about TWCD. The recent survey included valuable feedback, and I thank those who participated.
We recently received the survey results and I have asked Lynne Williams, our new director of external affairs, and her team to review the information. While nearly everyone on campus who completed the survey was aware of the TWCD campaign, the perception and understanding of the campaign was mixed, with more negative than positive results. Feedback has identified that while weaknesses exist with the tagline, strong attributes of the TWCD campaign are the concepts and stories it tells, which serve to differentiate UMD from the other UM campuses. I have clearly heard your concerns, and we will address them.
How we communicate about UMD is vitally important, and it is critical for that message to resonate with our external audiences and be endorsed by our internal community. Moving forward, Lynne Williams and her team will analyze the results and look at the various audiences individually. Over the summer, the External Affairs team will make recommendations, which may include further creation and testing of revised and new messaging. We will discuss this with the campus community in the fall, with a goal of having a clear direction by the end of the calendar year. In the meantime, we will diminish the use of TWCD until a new direction forward is determined.
Please contact Lynne at lwilliam@d.umn.edu if you have any questions about this important project.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
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