Dear
colleagues,
This
week is filled with action, and I sincerely thank everyone involved in
welcoming students. The mix of expressions on the faces of our new
students never gets old for me. The way that many campus units come together to make this week
special for our students is tremendous!
This
year, we are estimating about a five percent increase in new freshman with
around 2,250 new incoming students. Graduate program enrollment is also
experiencing positive growth. While enrollment numbers are not final until a
couple weeks into the semester, it is not too late to recognize our admissions
staff and everyone else on campus who has helped drive the increase. Thank you
for all your hard work.
Thanks
as well to those who were able to make the Monday morning breakfast. We found
our way to the fieldhouse and watched a video of Champ interviewing some of our colleagues.
I
also stressed that one of my main priorities this year is campus climate. It is
up to each one of us to take personal accountability for improving campus
climate. I'm proud of the progress we have made, but we must do more. The
results of our campus climate survey and subsequent conversations guide us to
focus on three primary areas:
- Make our campus more diverse
- Make our campus more inclusive
- Decrease and
ideally eliminate bullying at UMD
The
first step is for leadership at all levels to make clear that behaviors that
work against our core
values and prevent achievement of our
goals of inclusiveness are NOT acceptable here. To be successful in our campus
climate work, it's up to all of us to act on a daily basis in ways that will
help UMD be more diverse, more inclusive, and more welcoming.
On
Monday, I also spoke about what's been weighing on my mind and heart lately,
particularly with the recent events in Charlottesville, VA. We need to make
clear that UMD stands firm against white supremacy, bigotry, and violence.
We denounce the extremist and hate-filled messages, flags, and other
symbols that are used by neo-Nazism, white supremacists, and other similar
groups to promote hate, oppression, and violence. There is no room for racism,
sexism, homophobia, Jewish persecution, xenophobia, and other forms of hate at
UMD, in Duluth, or in our nation.
Budget
will continue to be a main priority this year. We should receive our 2018 budget
allocation letter from President Kaler within a week, which will reflect UMD's
funding and required expenses for this fiscal year. As with previous years, we
will discuss this letter with the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee and
make it available to the campus as a whole.
Last
year we made great progress refreshing our strategic plan by completing a SWOT
analysis, and getting input through various public forums and discussions with
administrative and governance committees to determine the initiatives and
metrics of the plan. This refreshment of the UMD Strategic Plan is an
opportunity for us to further clarify who we are, how we promote our
distinctiveness, and where we should put our focus over the next few years.
There
may be some minor tweaks to the language of one or more goals, though the
feedback received suggests that the UMD community remains supportive of the
existing goals. We anticipate the strategic plan updates should be completed by
the end of the fall 2017 semester.
Based
on the work of the Shared Governance Task Force, UMD now has a more formalized
governance structure including an office, website, and formalized guidelines for participation. The changes
are intended to encourage constituent groups to come together to share
perspectives about how the institution should be governed and supported.
Engagement, investment, and collaboration are at the core of the success of the
shared governance structure. Please email umdgov@d.umn.edu if you have any
questions.
Thanks
for reading, and let's work together to make it a great year.
Sincerely,
Lendley
C. Black
Chancellor
