Dear Raider Student Family,
Before we talk about our transformation, let me just share that this afternoon our on-campus colleagues, Ashland Fire and Rescue and the Ashland Police Department all responded swiftly to an incident outside the Stevenson Union involving a vehicle collision with the building. No SOU students or employees were injured, but we do want to share our gratitude to all those who helped with the response. Please be patient with any maintenance that may be required in the coming days.
Over the next five weeks, between now and Monday, June 15, we are tasked with creating a plan to help us weather the headwinds and challenges that are reverberating across the state and federal higher education landscape. We know that we need to adjust our overall budget picture by approximately $20 million annually. That will create the framework that breaks the cycle of crisis that we’ve endured for far too long. We heard from our campus loud and clear that this is our last chance to do this, and we must do it right. That will involve painful changes, but ones that will preserve the institution – which must be a united goal. We can and should use the Option Path for Fiscal Sustainability as a starting point and must keep focused on the target of approximately $20 million per year to meet our financial obligations. But we must come up with creative approaches that are 1) consistent with our institutional values; 2) mindful of the sea changes happening across higher education; and 3) far more integrated with community employers and stakeholders than ever before.
Many of you are asking how you can participate in the process. With five weeks, we unfortunately have to be creative in order to give agency to as many interested stakeholders as possible. We are coordinating with Dr. Vath, your dean of students, who has graciously offered to facilitate a student workgroup whose members must be willing to roll up their sleeves over the next few weeks to explore creative solutions that meet the requirements in the paragraph above. Ultimately, I am asking for this group to present alternative frameworks for me to consider, before I make final recommendations to our Board of Trustees, which will consider taking action on the SOU Vitality Plan on June 18.
If you are interested in joining this workgroup, we ask that you: 1) commit to a few hours of workshop time (date and times still to be determined); 2) come to the workgroup in a truly selfless mindset, focused on the well-being of the student body and the university above the interests of any specific program or individual; 3) be open-minded and willing to think beyond traditional frameworks; and 4) be willing to engage in heavy and difficult conversations that may affect the livelihoods of people we love and care about. This group will be advisory in nature – its goal, as one of our colleagues put it, is “to channel the broadest possible funnel for good ideas.” But I will give serious consideration to their proposals, as we will with all of the constructive ideas that come in. Hopefully, by Thursday I will send out a message with a tentative timeline and a link that solicits interest in serving on this group. We hope to have those group members identified by Friday afternoon so they can start planning their schedules accordingly.
Speaking of constructive ideas, we know that it’s not feasible to have manageable workgroups of hundreds of people, so we will have to find alternative pathways for ideas and recommendations from people who can’t afford the time requirement, or who were interested but unable to attend because of space limitations. Expect more information from me in the coming days with a link that will allow you to offer anonymous suggestions and frameworks throughout the rest of this process. And please allow me to make a plea: that “always-on” feedback tool should not just be a place to vent frustrations, or solely to stress the importance of a particular program or activity at the university. I am ALWAYS open to that feedback, and I understand the importance of giving that space, but what we truly need now are ACTIONABLE and IMPLEMENTABLE ideas that meet our financial goals and offer viable alternatives to the recommendations in the Option Path.
We have to come out of this transformation not just fiscally balanced, but better. We need to build a focused, regionally responsive, vibrant and resilient university that is centered on key cornerstones of academic excellence, but not simply a smaller version of who we are now. While we adapt to meet the dynamic needs of a new economy, we also need to remain anchored in foundational elements that have defined SOU for over 150 years: deep mentorship, transformational relationships and a culture of universal belonging. We have to stay committed to providing unparalleled student service and an educational experience that is inseparable from the magnificent landscapes we call home. This means that all of our activities need to be truly place-based: mindful of the unique nature of the spectacular area in which we have the opportunity to serve.
We CAN do this, everyone. Thanks for all you do, and you’ll hear again from me in the coming days.
Very respectfully
