Happy Friday, Raider family,
I hope you are having a great start to spring term. I would like to start this weekly message by extending my continued gratitude. All of our efforts to control spending are still showing positive signs. Thank you very much for your continued diligence, particularly as we get closer to the end of the fiscal year.
For our students, thank you for your resilience and for continuing to put your faith in us as an institution. At the core, our faculty and staff are united in a heart-centered commitment to your success. It is why we have chosen this profession and why your successes make all the difference in the world to us. Even as we make this future transition, we won’t abandon the principles which make us truly unique as an institution, and likely why you chose us in the first place. Our commitment to you and your success will never falter.
The Deloitte team seems to be on track, even with a dizzyingly quick timeline. They are analyzing our revenues and expenditures in four main areas: student aid, auxiliaries, academics, and administrative services. They are also analyzing class sizes, faculty and staff workloads, the possibility of more robust shared services with other higher education institutions, and revenue opportunities. In the coming weeks, they will begin to sketch out a plan that will help SOU establish long-term fiscal sustainability.
Your feedback and guidance matter now more than ever. I encourage anyone interested – students, faculty, staff and community members – to please share your thoughts directly with Deloitte. Their feedback loop remains open, and they definitely welcome your thoughts and insights. Click HERE (https://sou.edu/president/path-to-fiscal-sustainability/) to share your suggestions. The sooner you send in that feedback, the better.
Remember that we must have our transformation completed by June 2027. In order for us to do that successfully, we will need to work together. All of us need to recognize that we will have a blueprint by the end of the month. After that, we must formulate an implementation strategy prior to the end of this spring term so that we can use the summer months to start this transition.
Finally, I would like to ask all of us to continue focusing on being loving teammates and colleagues with each other. No matter what obstacles we face, we can – and will – face them together with dignity, respect, kindness, and genuine love for each other and our university. Please be the role model that you wish to see in others.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.
Very respectfully,
