Dear Colleagues,

I want to begin by reiterating how energized I am by the actions taken by our Board of Trustees on February 6. With their approval of Reach Higher Together, fully endorsed by our community through shared-governance, our Strategic Plan for 2026–2030 provides us a clear, ambitious, and collectively shaped North Star for the years ahead. Alongside it, the University Academic Senate-endorsed Academic Affairs Strategic Framework provides a vital companion, ensuring that our academic mission remains at the center of how we move forward. 

I am also excited that the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the renovation of and addition to the L.V. Eberhard Center as part of the Blue Dot ecosystem—an important investment that directly supports our strategic priorities and the shifts required in digital literacy and ethical AI, all in service of human flourishing and future-ready learning.   

This project was originally proposed in 2017 as a Computer Science classroom building and has been thoughtfully discussed and refined since then, shaped by many voices and perspectives along the way. Likewise, the Eberhard Center has not been updated or enhanced to meet current needs since it was built in 1988. While this represents the largest single borrowing event in the university’s history, the discipline around our use of debt remains consistent with longstanding practice when looking at GVSU's total borrowing over a six to eight-year period. This borrowing event is the first since 2018, when we sought new funding from capital markets for the construction of the DeVos Center for Interdisciplinary Health, which also included state-of-the-art technology for health science learning. Using bond financing for major capital projects is normal for GVSU and helps solidify our finances and agility. 

With these approvals in place, our focus now turns to two critical next steps. 

First: Integrated planning and clear definitions of success. 

Divisional planning will move forward in an integrated and aligned way, taking its lead from Reach Higher Together and its companion Academic Affairs Strategic Framework. This work will focus on points of integration across the university, including:

As part of this next phase, we will define success clearly and intentionally. In complex environments, what we choose to measure matters. Thoughtful success metrics create alignment, clarify priorities, and accelerate progress without oversimplifying the work we do. 

Second: A renewed and explicit commitment to financial stewardship. 

Ensuring that resources follow strategy must be a shared responsibility across the institution. Financial stewardship is not a separate exercise from our mission or our planning—it is essential to fulfilling it. 

Being good stewards of our resources has always been part of who we are at Grand Valley. It is precisely why we enter this next strategic phase from a position of relative fiscal strength. In a rapidly changing and increasingly uncertain landscape, that past stewardship allows us to act with foresight rather than urgency. 

At the same time, the external environment demands our full attention. Here in Michigan, disagreements over state funding priorities and significant revenue shortfalls make deeper disinvestment from public higher education a reality. As we advocate with statewide elected officials, we must also be prepared for scenarios that include substantial reductions in state support. 

More broadly, shifting immigration patterns, demographic changes, unprecedented government policy shifts and oversight, a state funding model that remains fundamentally unfair, and growing national skepticism about the value of a college degree all require us to redouble our focus on financial stewardship. Michigan’s population growth continues to lag national trends, and the ongoing decline in traditional-aged students along with the deep decline nationally in international student interest and visa approvals will make enrollment growth increasingly challenging. 

How we will pursue financial stewardship. 

Our approach will be grounded, transparent, values-based, and aligned with our strategy. 

At the same time, we will continue to invest in what matters most:

This work is not easy. It requires discipline, shared responsibility, and a willingness to make thoughtful choices. Choices not only about new resources, which we continue to pursue aggressively, but also about how existing resources are aligned and deployed. 

We remain deeply committed to transparency and shared leadership as we move forward. We are in a strong position at a time when many institutions across higher education are making short-term or opportunity-driven reductions that risk eroding long-term viability and impact. Our path is different by design. 

Thank you for your leadership, your engagement, and your continued commitment to Grand Valley State University. I am grateful for the care you bring to this work and confident in what we can accomplish as we reach higher together. 

With appreciation, 

Philly Mantella