November 25, 2019
It has been a busy semester and as everyone prepares to take a well-deserved break for Thanksgiving, I wanted to send a note of my gratitude to all of you for everything you do to make IU South Bend such a special place. A place is, of course, defined by its location, buildings and physical character but what brings a place to life is the character of its community. In my first six months here, I have witnessed the talent, creativity and strength of our students, faculty and staff at events, performances and other venues around campus. It is for the beautiful character of both our campus and our community that I am most thankful for at this time of year.
Thanks also to those of you who read Dr. Welty’s report and provided your input. We had more than 90 responses to the survey and I met with several leadership groups about the findings and recommendations in the report. I am reviewing this input and will incorporate it into decisions about the campus administrative structure to better organize us to tackle our challenges and leverage the many opportunities in front of us.
The Chancellor’s Cabinet has also been busy developing a set of campus priorities for the year. These priorities were presented at the November 20 Coffee with the Chancellor and the presentation can be found .
I hope you will take some time to review it so you can see where we are headed and how you might fit into the plans. I appreciate your attendance at Coffee with the Chancellor each month and other gatherings around campus. I look forward to continuing to work with everyone to ensure we have as much success as we can this year. In the New Year, we will be embarking on a strategic planning process that will chart a course for our longer-term future. More to come on that process in January.
In the meantime, enjoy the holiday break. I wish you happy times with family and friends, reflecting for what you are thankful for, but also time to take a breath and get set for final exams, papers, projects and performances.