Leadership Updates (sent 6/20/23)

Dear colleagues, I hope that you are all enjoying the summer season so far. It sure does feel different on campus without all the energy and activity of the academic year. I am writing to provide updates on some important leadership roles. Human Resources As I noted in a May 3rd email, Mark Yuran, associate vice chancellor for human resources, accepted a new position outside of UMD. His last day was Friday, June 16. Mark worked closely with the vice chancellors and me to ensure a smooth transition. I am pleased to share that Lindsey Klegstad and Kayleigh Karppinen will serve as interim directors for human resources. They will oversee the office and provide strategic leadership for human resources, reporting directly to me, and serving as part of my leadership team. Development While this news has been shared with several of her colleagues already, Tricia Bunten has notified me of her intent to retire towards the end of this summer. Over the course of Tricia’s successful 22-year career at UMD, she has been involved in several substantial projects that will undoubtedly continue to impact this campus for decades to come. During her time here she was part of the team who worked to secure funding for the Swenson Science building, Swenson Civil Engineering building, the Heikkila Advanced Materials Science building and many other philanthropic funds and projects. Tricia brought experience and skill together to lead UMD’s philanthropic efforts, including leading the Driven capital campaign which raised over $144 million for our campus. Tricia has been a central part of UMD’s leadership team, bringing a steadiness and strategic perspective. She will be greatly missed, and I wish her the very best in the adventures ahead. While Tricia has graciously offered some flexibility on her last day with us, we have begun the search for her replacement. I want to thank UMD Vice Chancellor Lisa Erwin and Assistant Dean for Advancement Louis Clark from the Twin Cities College of Liberal Arts, for agreeing to co-chair the search. Other search committee members include Suzanne Anderson, Matt Duffy, Forrest Karr, Katie Laaksonen, and Wendy Reed. Enrollment Management Interim Executive Vice Chancellor Amy Hietapelto also recently concluded a successful search, led by LSBE Interim Dean Praveen Aggarwal, to hire Trevor Eagle as our new associate vice chancellor for enrollment management. Trevor will be joining UMD in early August and brings a breadth of experience including most recently serving as deputy enrollment officer in enrollment management at University of California Davis, and previously as director and special advisor in enrollment services at Arizona State University. Please join me in welcoming Trevor to campus later this summer. Chancellor’s Office Within the Chancellor’s Office, Bob Borden, who has served as executive secretary for 17 years, will also be retiring. Bob has provided a variety of excellent support and service within the Chancellor’s unit over his time here, including support to Development, UMPR, and our governance bodies. I am grateful for his time here at UMD and all his support and dedication. A retirement celebration will be held for Bob on July 24 from 2-4 p.m. in the garden room. Carlee Williams will oversee a search to fill this position. Please join me in wishing Mark, Tricia, and Bob well and thanking them for their time here at UMD. As always, let me know if you have any questions. Sincerely,

Dave McMillan Interim Chancellor

How Legalized Marijuana Impacts Your Job at the University of Minnesota

Dear Faculty and Staff,

As you may have read or seen in the news, Governor Walz recently signed a bill into law legalizing the use of marijuana for recreational purposes by adults age 21 and over, as well as the right to grow up to eight plants for personal use. The new law will also decriminalize its possession and expunge misdemeanor marijuana offenses from criminal records.

While the new law may begin to shift societal norms outside the workplace,  University employees will still be expected to follow the University’s Drug-Free policy, Smoke- and Tobacco-Free policy, and Code of Conduct, which outlines the responsibilities of employees to “act according to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct” and “be personally accountable for individual actions.”

As has been the standard procedure in the past, employees who violate these policies and perform work while impaired due to the use of controlled substances are subject to disciplinary action, including termination. Additionally, while the new law allows for the growing of cannabis plants at home, no such plants grown for personal use are allowed on any University property nor should such plants be visible on camera during remote work. Please also note that the legalization of marijuana at the state level does not change the Federal DOT Drug policy for drivers, of which the University has about 100 employees. All members of our University community are responsible for encouraging compliance with these policies.

If you, or someone you are concerned about, need help with substance misuse, the University has resources available to you, including confidential counseling and chemical health consultation through the Employee Assistance Program and mental health resources for University employees and their dependents enrolled in the medical plan.

We appreciate your awareness and compliance with this issue in support of protecting the health of our entire community.

Sincerely,

Mark Yuran
Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources

This email was sent to UMD Faculty and Staff on behalf of the Department of Human Resources by UMD Office of the Chancellor, Darland Administration Building 515, 1049 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Read our privacy statement.

Drug-Free Policy Update

Dear Bulldogs, I’m writing to give you an update about recreational cannabis at UMD, as the state of Minnesota’s recreational cannabis law has recently changed. It’s important for you to know that the University is required to follow federal cannabis laws. This means it is still illegal to possess, use, distribute, or grow cannabis on campus. Additionally, the University’s Drug-Free policy, Smoke- and Tobacco-Free policy, and Student Conduct Code have not changed and still prohibit these behaviors on campus. If you, or someone you are concerned about, need help with substance misuse, the University has resources available to you: UMD Health Services Cannabis Resources Sober Champs - a student substance recovery group that meets during the academic year UMD Counseling Services (mental health resources) I hope you have a great summer no matter where your plans take you. Sincerely, Lisa Ann Erwin, PhD Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Dean of Students

This email was sent to all students on behalf of the Vice Chancellor for Student Life by UMD Office of the Chancellor, Darland Administration Building 515, 1049 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Read our privacy statement.

End of Academic Year Updates

Dear colleagues, It’s here - spring semester finals week. I want to start by thanking all of you for a great academic year. I sure learned a lot this last year and was consistently inspired by our students, faculty, and staff. The energy, passion, and pure brilliance of this campus community is captivating. This Saturday, I am looking forward to presiding over my first commencement as UMD’s interim chancellor. We have over 2,000 students graduating this academic year and each of you helped play a role in supporting them in their success. Thank you. I am looking forward to an enjoyable, but busy summer as we continue to move important initiatives forward. I’ll take this time to note a few updates. Leadership Searches After careful consideration and in consultation with the search committee and consultant, I have decided to pause the search for UMD’s senior level culture and inclusion officer. A lot of great groundwork has been done and I plan to circle back to this process at the beginning of the fall semester when the campus can be fully involved. I want to thank search committee co-chairs Jeremy Leiferman and Lin Xiu for their leadership and I extend my gratitude to the search committee members. In late April, four strong finalists for the associate vice chancellor for enrollment management position visited campus. I’d like to thank search committee chair Praveen Aggarwal, members of the search committee, and the campus community for their active participation in this process. This is an important leadership role for campus and I know EVCAA Amy Hietapelto hopes to extend an offer to a finalist in the next month. In other leadership transition news, Mark Yuran, associate vice chancellor for human resources, has accepted the senior associate vice president of human resources and chief human resources officer position at the University of Toledo and will be leaving UMD around the middle of June. Mark has provided solid leadership to our Office of Human Resources since November 2018. Mark brought strategic insight to me and my leadership team and has been a strong UMD advocate with the U of M System. I wish Mark the best in his new role and I am grateful to him for all he’s done as a senior leader for this campus. I will provide more information on next steps as we work to ensure a smooth transition in this important role. Budget and Strategic Planning Over the summer, we will continue to move ahead with the budget and structural review plan as discussed in the town halls a couple of weeks ago. This will include implementing our near-term action items along with creating work groups to further design frameworks for the mid and long term plans. This summer, these groups will gather information and conduct analytical assessments which will then be shared with the campus community for input and further action in the fall semester. To help guide this work, we will continue to refer back to both the UMD strategic plan and the systemwide MPact 2025 plan. I am pleased to share our recently completed UMD strategic plan performance update which provides highlights and accomplishments towards our plan goals and initiatives. Please take some time to review the strategic plan performance update. While this plan is still a work in progress, we have made important progress and this update does a great job at highlighting a variety of them. Thanks to Jen Mencl, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, for her leadership with our strategic plan and the performance update. While the to-do list is never done, this week let’s enjoy the conclusion of the academic year and celebrate the success of our students. I hope you have a good end to the academic year. Thanks for all you do for UMD and our students. Sincerely,

Dave McMillan Interim Chancellor

Thanks for a Great Year

Dear students, This first week of May brings longer (and hopefully sunnier) days and finals week at UMD. This is just a quick note to wish you all well as you wrap up the semester and to thank you for a great academic year. This last year, my first as your interim chancellor, I was inspired almost every day in one way or another by the creativity, talent, energy and commitment of our UMD students!! Thank you for that inspiration. To our graduating students, congratulations! You are (almost) done with this part of your education journey. I look forward to seeing you cross the stage at commencement this Saturday. Your hard work and determination will continue to serve you well and I hope you will stay connected to UMD in the future. For our returning students, also congratulations on a successful year. We look forward to welcoming you back in the fall. Have a great summer and again, congratulations! Sincerely,

Dave McMillan Interim Chancellor

Budget Update, Upcoming Town Halls and Assemblies (sent 3/29/23)

Dear colleagues, As March comes to a close, we welcome the (eventual) arrival of spring, celebrate the recent Bulldog athletic successes and we begin planning for the end of the academic year. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that the end of my second semester in this leadership role is nearing. Much has happened, I’ve learned a lot, and much remains to be done. Throughout the year in conversations and communications like this January email, I have talked about a combination of macroeconomic and socioeconomic drivers that continue to impact and intensify within higher education. These include changing student demographics, oversupply within our specific sector, rising costs (labor, energy, materials, construction), price sensitivity, and public perception questions around the value of a four-year degree. UMD has faced budget shortfalls before and you have worked through them internally and with support from system leadership. Despite repeatedly finding annual budget solutions, UMD continues to face persistent and ongoing financial challenges, due primarily to enrollment. We must build an action plan for long-term fiscal sustainability. That is my goal as your interim leader. It won’t be easy, but I do believe it is achievable and that in the end, we will be far stronger because of it. We are not alone in this challenge. In recent weeks several other institutions, including some in our region, have announced restructuring, reductions, and even closures due to budget challenges. We are a strong institution - in my opinion far stronger than any of our regional competitors. It is our strengths and our commitment to our core values that we will build upon to achieve fiscal sustainability. As we move through this process, we will use the values framework I introduced in January as a guide to: Prioritize student success and support Maintain academic excellence Leverage resources and support from the U of M System My leadership team and I have developed near, mid, and long term action steps to help us better align operations with financial resources. To properly introduce these action items and to gather critical feedback from our campus community, I’d like to invite you to join me in conversation. The vice chancellors and I will host town halls and we invite you to join us to hear a brief overview of our plan and then engage in discussion and conversation. We will join the already scheduled faculty assembly on April 12, upcoming staff assemblies with dates to be announced next week, and hold these open campus town halls: Wednesday, April 19 from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. in Kirby Ballroom Friday, April 21 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. on zoom (registration link) If you would like to submit questions ahead of time, you can do so through this form. We will also take questions during the town hall. While we will get into more detail in these town halls, I do want to preview a bit more of our plan for you. For the two upcoming fiscal years, we need to implement several quick short-term moves while we work on more systemic change. Centralizing resources is key to assessing where and how we can find efficiencies and identify focus areas. Therefore, for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years, we will address our projected $16.5 million shortfall (which equates to approximately six percent of our overall operational budget) through support from the U of M System and drawing down carry forward funding. Within this, I must emphasize the importance that state support has on our ultimate budget allocation. Continued advocacy to the state legislature helps us secure what will hopefully be strong state support in the U of M budget request. Related to the budget and running parallel with our fiscal sustainability work is the systemwide PEAK initiative. The purpose of PEAK is to strengthen how we work together and leverage resources across campus and the university system. I recognize that PEAK brings with it many questions and uncertainty. I ask for your patience as we continue to work through the process. I see a lot of opportunity for us to build a more efficient model for delivering financial, HR, IT and marketing/communication support here in Duluth and across the system. PEAK will likely create the potential to redeploy resources and better serve students and their success. Those employees who are directly impacted and their supervisors will continue to receive updates and information from university leadership and the functional team leads. It is important to note that while PEAK has its stops, starts, and milestones as the process moves forward, we will have time to make this transition smoothly. In closing, I ask for you all to keep a longer-term and larger perspective in mind as we consider change and how it impacts each of us individually and this campus collectively. Defining what we want this campus to be and how it can best deploy its strengths and advantages in order to thrive is our shared deliverable. I know that change is difficult, but we will face this together and I am grateful for your continued engagement and dedication to UMD. Sincerely,

Dave McMillan   Interim Chancellor

Please Complete the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Campus Climate Survey (sent 2/15/23)

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

You should have received an email from Joshua Patterson at SoundRocket with a link to the 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Campus Climate Survey. The survey will be open until February 28.

Let your voice be heard by taking 15-20 minutes or less to share your experiences as a member of our UMD community.

It is important that we hear from as many of our staff, students, and faculty as possible as we strive to create a campus climate that is welcoming, safe, inclusive, and equitable. Thank you to those who have already completed the survey. 

The University of Minnesota Duluth is committed to summarizing, sharing, and acting on the survey results so that our campus can recruit, retain, and support a diverse community of students, staff, and faculty.

If you can’t find the email or can’t get the link to work, please contact SoundRocket support at support@srsrv.com and SoundRocket will respond promptly. 

Sincerely,

Dave McMillan Interim Chancellor