Executive Assistant Announcement

 Dear Faculty and Staff,

After fifteen years of outstanding service to UMD and to the Office of the Chancellor, Jean Conner, the Executive Assistant to the Chancellor, has decided to retire, effective August 2, 2021. I have greatly enjoyed working with Jean over the past eleven years. She is such a positive and productive member of our community. I appreciate her outstanding commitment to excellence and to improving our campus climate. She admirably serves the wide range of individuals, on- and off-campus, who interact with the Chancellor's Office. We will miss her.

Carlee Williams will serve as the Interim Executive Assistant to the Chancellor, and for the time being, she will also continue coordinating UMD Special Events. Bob Borden continues his position in the Chancellor’s Office as Executive Secretary, and Wendy Larrivy continues to serve the office as Administrative Director. Within the next several weeks, I will seek approval to search for the Executive Assistant position. Carlee has done a great job with special events, and I thank her for taking on these additional responsibilities.

Please join me in wishing Jean well in retirement and thanking her for her many accomplishments at UMD, in the University of Minnesota System, and with her local higher education colleagues.

Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor

Vaccine Facts

Dear Campus Community,

Here is some important information about the COVID-19 vaccine.

1. We don’t want people to get sick with COVID-19 of any variant. Period.

2. The risk of getting sick is increasing again because the delta variant is more transmissible. Where someone with the original COVID-19 infected an average of 2.5 people (there are those half people again), someone with the delta variant infects 5.0 to 8.0 people.

3. The delta variant is now responsible for more than 80% of the infections in the US.

4. Over the past two months in the US, 99% of the deaths and 97% of the hospitalizations from COVID-19 were of unvaccinated people.

5. Vaccines are safe.

6. Vaccines are effective against the variant. Can vaccinated people still get sick? Yes, but evidence so far shows that most people who have “breakthrough” infections after immunization have less severe symptoms.

7. In the US, an average of 68.6% of adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination. You can review Minnesota vaccine data by county. St. Louis County currently has 65.8% of the population 16 years or older vaccinated.

8. Vaccination is free. Everywhere to everyone. You can find vaccination sites via MN Vaccine Connector, vaccines.gov, texting your ZIP code to 438829, or calling 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near you.

9. Want to protect yourself and others more? Continue to wear a mask. They’re still required in some situations, particularly anywhere health care is provided.

10. The University continues to monitor the situation in real time and in all its complexity.

Why are there so many links? We understand that you need to make your own decisions and want you to have access to the same information we are using: scientific, reliable, accurate, and timely.

Sincerely,

Dr. David Worley MD
UMD Health Services

UPDATE: Chancellor's Welcome for all Staff and Faculty - August 23

Good morning,

In celebration of the many UMD employees who worked on campus during the pandemic and those coming back to campus next month, I have decided to hold the Welcome Event in person, instead of our previously planned virtual event. Since I know some of you will continue working remotely, we will record the event for you to review at a later time.

Please join me and my leadership team in the Ward Wells Field House at 10:00am on Monday, August 23. Coffee, fruit and pastries will be served.

We will again be collecting nonperishable food for Champ's Cupboard, the UMD Food Shelf located in 245 Kirby Plaza. Unused/unopened/unexpired items specifically needed are:

• Peanut butter
• Mac & cheese and "Just add Water Meals" (Pasta-Roni, Rice-a-Roni, Bear Creek, Idaho Mashed Potato mix)
• Organic and Gluten Free Items
• Dry pasta, rice and pasta sauce 
• Lighter meals/snacks: granola bars, trail mix 
• Spaghettios, chili, stew 
• Canned tuna and chicken
• Chunky soups 
• Hamburger, Chicken or Tuna Helper
• Dry breakfast cereal and oatmeal packets
• Fruit -  canned, applesauce, fruit cocktail, dried fruit

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you all!

Lynn Black
Chancellor

Follow-up on Diversity and Inclusion Action Item

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Over the course of the last year, we have continued to seek meaningful ways for our campus to support Goal 2 of our strategic plan to “advance equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice within the campus community.” As part of our campus diversity and inclusion action items, we brought in third-party expertise to advise us regarding any policy adaptations that could help the UMD Police Department (UMDPD) build upon the department’s focus on campus public safety and the uniqueness of law enforcement within our university community.

To assist with that effort, we retained CL Alexander Consulting, led by Dr. Cedric Alexander, an expert in law enforcement with over 40 years in public safety. Dr. Alexander and his team conducted listening sessions with our campus community to identify strengths and opportunities to improve UMDPD’s effectiveness, to enhance campus relationships, and to increase public safety and trust.

The Report and Recommendations

After engaging with our campus community last semester, Dr. Alexander and his team have provided a report with findings and recommendations. The report conclusion states “Overall, UMDPD has low levels of use of force incidents and does not have disparate outcomes in arrest data. However, the broader national and state context has raised the need for every law enforcement agency to deepen its relationships and capacity to be open and transparent; to fully engage their communities, especially the most marginalized, and those most often interacting with police.”

The report is comprehensive, thoughtful, and honest, and I encourage you to read the full report. The overall findings from their work are:

• There is a wide range of perceptions about police in general and the UMDPD. There are those who fear police and any interactions with them, and those who view police as their protectors from crime.
• UMDPD use of force data over the last five years is a very low number and is not disproportionate in terms of the race of the persons involved in the use of force incidents.
• UMDPD data covering arrests of both students and non-students for the last four years found that the arrest rate for underrepresented groups is below the demographics for UMD.
• UMDPD engages in a number of community outreach efforts and participates in diversity and inclusion platforms. But there is a lack of public awareness of UMDPD community engagement efforts.
• UMDPD has a diverse staff of 12, that includes 11 licensed police officers; 5 are female, 4 identify as members of underrepresented groups, 1 has a disability, and 3 are veterans. Although UMDPD has a diverse police force, they are understaffed according to the Department of Justice-Bureau of Justice Statistics national averages.
• During the listening sessions, faculty and staff were strong advocates for students, sharing what they have heard from students, particularly BIPOC students, whereas students tended to be more reserved in sharing their perceptions.

The proposed recommendations fall into five broad categories for response:

• Proactive police interactions;
• Implicit bias, use of force, and cultural competency;
• UMDPD mutual aid agreements;
• Mental health, homeless, disabilities, sexual assault, domestic violence, substance abuse incidents;
• Demilitarization, arming of police.

In the months ahead, I will work closely with Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Sue Bosell and UMDPD Chief Sean Huls to operationalize these recommendations. There are recommendations included in Dr. Alexander’s report that will require further consideration and analysis, including adding officers to UMDPD. There are also many actions already underway, such as planned proactive community policing events for the fall semester, equipping UMDPD officers with body cameras, an updated UMDPD website, and increased communication efforts. We take this report and the recommendations very seriously and will continue to find ways to improve and best serve our campus community.

UMDPD Service

While the report focuses on identifying areas for improvement, it also recognizes the strengths of UMDPD. The department has taken significant steps to broaden officers’ skill sets in de-escalation, mental health, and cultural sensitivity, as well as to enhance community relationships. This commitment to ongoing change as a modern police department supports UMDPD’s mission to serve the UMD campus.

We are incredibly grateful to all who shared their important voice and unique experiences throughout this process. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor