Dear colleagues,
Thank you to those of you who were able to make the campus conversation gathering last Wednesday. I appreciate your participation in what I felt was a productive engagement and start to the discussion around our values.
In the meeting, and through my sketch, I connected our strengths and how they drive us forward. Those strengths include our campus and the Duluth community, our place in the U of M System that continues to grow, and our commitment to student success that is fueled by innovation and integration with the environment around us. We have a bright future and I look forward to building it with you.
As for our values, the campus leadership team and I will continue to engage in conversations. We are looking through the input gathered at the meeting last week and will circle back with more information on next steps. I will also work closely with our campus shared governance structure.
I wanted to also provide a quick follow-up to a handful of other topics we covered last week.
Regents Visit - November 12
A few members of the Board of Regents will be on campus Tuesday, November 12. They will be tabling in the Kirby Student Center from 11:00 am -1:00 pm and are asking members of the campus community to stop by to talk with them. Please swing by as your schedule allows.
Leadership Search Updates
I recently announced our new VCFO Matt Massman who will start in December.
The executive director for advancement position is posted and I want to thank Athletic Director Forrest Karr and Tracy Ketchem from the University Foundation for leading that search.
I have also asked Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Trevor Eagle and SGA President Remi Foust to co-chair the vice chancellor for student life search, which will begin in the next couple of months.
I am also working on the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs search. I am working on leadership for that search and will use an executive search firm to support this effort. Once those pieces are in place, the search firm will meet with campus stakeholders to finalize a position profile that will be used to recruit top talent to UMD.
Chancellor’s Council on Campus Climate (4C)
Core to UMD's values and priorities is ensuring a diverse, welcoming, and inclusive campus community. This last year, the Chancellor’s Council on Campus Climate (4C) worked to review previous and current campus climate efforts and prepare a recommendations report for campus leadership. These recommendations include an executive DEI position on the UMD leadership team, an expanded membership for the council, and intentional collaboration with campus commissions and committees that support DEI work at UMD.
The 4C group will be holding feedback sessions with the campus community around the last campus climate survey results, including a Campus Conversation (formally known as the Lunch-n-Learn series) open to everyone on November 26, 2024 from 9:00 - 11:00 am in Griggs Center. You can find the campus climate survey reports on the Office of Equity and Diversity Campus Climate website.
Student Success Initiative (SSI)
Last academic year, Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Life Jeremy Leiferman and Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Trevor Eagle led a team of faculty, staff, and students to review best practices, examine previous data and efforts, and identify areas of exploration that will ultimately lead to better student outcomes in and out of the classroom. This work resulted in a SSI report of recommendations, which was recently presented to the senior leadership team.
Moving forward, I am asking the group to consider how we expand our student scholars’ access to high-impact practices that lead to transformative education and student success, build upon some promising practices in advising already deployed at UMD, and consider ways to build strong and intentional collaborations across the campus to advance student success. I also hope they will recommend professional development opportunities that orient us to see all students through an asset-based lens, with a focus on the strengths that every student we admit brings to their learning and our community.
Academic Program Array Analysis
Building on the extensive work done last year, we are engaging in a two-pronged approach to strengthen and focus our academic program offerings. Four priorities guide our efforts. Our academic programs will:
1) align with the mission and identity of both UMD and the U of M System
2) use effective and innovative practices to advance student success
3) meet student and community needs
4) be fiscally responsible
In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, deans will propose changes that meet these priorities through consultation with UMD colleagues in and outside their units, the Academic Leadership Team, and, where appropriate, colleagues throughout the U of M System. In each case, they are focusing on foregrounding student success by incorporating ideas that are intended to improve retention, graduation rates, and boost undergraduate and graduate enrollments. They are using a “MEDIC” framework to consider what to Maintain, Eliminate, Decrease, Increase, and Create as we fine-tune our dynamic academic programs.
Additionally, the Academic Revisioning Committee (ARC) will establish a process that current and future leaders can use to make mission-driven, student-focused, community-oriented, and fiscally responsible decisions about our academic programs. With ARC’s guidance, we will establish a process that will be transparent, predictable, and normalized as a regular part of academic decision making. This process will be established by an outstanding committee, including Jen Mencl and Erik Brown from Academic Affairs, as well as representatives from each of our colleges and from the faculty senate. In order to grow and innovate, this broadly consultative process will help us invest in academic programs that align with our current strengths and future aspirations.
End of Semester Buffet - Save the Date!
Please mark your calendars for the annual End of Semester Buffet on Tuesday, December 3 from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm in the Kirby Ballroom.
Have a great day, |
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