Dear Colleagues,

Thank you for your participation and thoughtful responses during these beginning stages of data collection for the operational sustainability initiative. Your contributions to this process are invaluable and will ultimately ensure that this university-wide review fully aligns with Valpo’s mission and values.

During the recent Town Hall meeting, we noted that we will be providing a monthly update on this important work. Here is the first of those updates, which you can expect to receive during the first week of each month.

As you know, in late August, members of the Steering Team and Data Team were identified. These teams are composed of your colleagues from across campus and are based on their role within the university. The roster of team members can be found here. Each team will work closely with rpk GROUP to bring institutional knowledge and important context to the data collection and analysis processes. The Data Team met several times throughout the past month to kick off its activities, with the primary focus being on mapping academic departments, taking program inventory and introducing definitions and metrics that will be used throughout the review process. The Data Team will continue to meet weekly for the remainder of the semester, and the Steering Team will meet twice per month.

We appreciated the strong attendance by faculty and staff, in person and online, for the Sept. 14 Town Hall meeting in the Harre Union. Katie Hagen and Rilie Sibold represented rpk GROUP. Their presentation, as well a link to the recording, can be found on the operational sustainability employee resource page. The administrative review survey was introduced at the Town Hall and remained open to all faculty and staff through Sept. 30.  Thank you to everyone who has responded to the survey, and we look forward to sharing the results in future after they have been compiled.

Katie and Rilie also met with the staff employee advocacy council (SEAC) and the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, and the Steering Team convened for its initial meeting. The topics of these meetings were all introductory in nature, describing the project and answering questions from stakeholders. Regular updates to the deans,  Faculty Senate, and SEAC will be provided to support their ongoing engagement throughout the project.

Please visit the operational sustainability pages under the Thrive Initiative on the Uplift Valpo website, where you can find detailed information and responses to any questions you may have. Specific questions or comments about the academic analysis and administrative review process can be submitted at any time through the Project Feedback Form.

Again, thank you for your continued participation, which will ensure our collective success.

Sincerely, 

Eric W. Johnson '87, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Mark C. Volpatti, Ed.D., CPA
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Chief Financial Officer