²ÊÃñ±¦µä

Dear colleagues,

As a new academic year takes hold, university leadership is focused on students’ success: completing their degrees with a high-quality, meaningful, and accessible education in a reasonable timeframe and knowing they belong to a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive social and academic community.

This vision can’t be realized without the success of our faculty and staff. You will clearly see this interrelationship at work this year in priorities that balance the academic experience of research, scholarship, creative work, and teaching with the campus experience of belonging, engagement, and campus resource success:

• Our academic experience priorities carry forward our Academic Futures initiative, including implementing pilots for our academics concept, approving and implementing our common curriculum, and extending our efforts in interdisciplinary pedagogy.
• Our research priorities put climate, health, quantum, and space at the center of our academic experience for students, faculty, and staff.
• Our campus experience priorities create a sense of belonging and engagement among students, staff, and faculty that is grounded in mental and physical health; make progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and create affordability for students through the smart investment of our funds.
• Our campus resource success will rely on data and technology for infrastructure investments, furthering our commitment to sustainability and continuing to build financial resilience.

Key projects for making progress in our academic experience priorities include:

• Close examination of how students are enrolled at the university
• Analysis and improvement of the first-year experience for students
• Creation of expanded and more consistent wrap-around services to help all students succeed 

Key projects for improving our campus experience include:

• Employee engagement, wellness, and compensation
• Shared services/centers of excellence launch
• Efficiencies in technology, web, and work process/policy 

Higher education is a human endeavor, and our success must be rooted in our humanity and reflected in the best of our values: cooperation, compassion, and concern. 

Thank you for living and elevating these values in all you do to create new knowledge, transform lives, and advance the public good. My best to each of you as our journey continues this year. 
 
Russ
 
Russell Moore, provost
²ÊÃñ±¦µä