Dear Colleagues:

A year ago this week, Beth and I moved into our new home in Jonesboro – and almost immediately started fretting about shooting our initial First Friday video. I will never get used to the nervousness that invokes, but I do appreciate its goals – to make sure that folks know what is happening on our campus. But I also value the ability to share with you in a communication like this more details about on-campus activity – especially as we begin the hard work of transforming our university.

Approaching an anniversary like this brings back a lot of memories, which serve as a reminder of the many blessings we have experienced since joining the Red Wolves pack here at Arkansas State. Over these 12 months, I have spent a lot of time listening to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members about the aspirations, goals, and dreams they have for A-State. Many of you know that each year, I make a pledge to myself to choose a word that will guide my actions – and the word for 2018 is "Forward." That one word has guided a lot of my activities this past year, as it orients me toward the future without dwelling too much on the past. That is something that I have tried hard to promote since my first day on the job.

Moving forward usually means making changes. I am always hesitant to make too many changes too quickly, because I am cognizant of the paradox of reform – where you make things worse by trying to make things better. Still, change is necessary for organizations that are transformational (as I believe A-State to be). As A-State's chancellor, it is my responsibility to implement appropriate changes that will prepare us for the challenges that we will eventually face that are beyond our control. Those challenges include things like relatively flat state funding, the advent of the state's productivity formula, and the declining number of college-going high school students. Each of these things (and many others) negatively affects our ability to meet our mission goals.

To that end, we will be announcing changes this summer that I believe will help our university move forward. They are the result of thoughtful input from a wide range of individuals.

One of these big changes has already occurred – the creation of a College of Engineering and Computer Science and a College of Agriculture. There were a lot of moving parts in this change, including many meetings with faculty, staff, alumni, and external constituencies, but it was one of those happy situations where the right thing to do aligned with something that everyone wanted to do. Our Trustees approved this decision at their most recent meeting, and it becomes effective July 1, 2018. I am grateful for Tim Burcham, who has agreed to serve as the acting dean of CoECS until such time as we have filled that position after a national search. Tim will, of course, remain the Dean of Agriculture. When you next see him, please thank him for his wonderful work leading the former College of Agriculture, Engineering, and Technology the past few years. We were very fortunate to have his steady hand on the wheel. By the way, in addition to searching for a dean of CoECS, we will also search for deans in the Neil Griffin College of Business and College of Sciences and Mathematics this coming year.

A second big change is with the Division of Student Affairs. In our first year together, we have made great strides in the area of retention of our current students, and the great news is that we have already tied our record first-year retention rate (with seven weeks to go). We also expanded our recruitment efforts, with more students having been admitted to A-State than any time in recent history. The proof is in the pudding, but we are on track to have a first-year class that is significantly larger than we had in fall 2017. As the Huron Report suggested, however, our organizational structure for recruiting and admissions is unique, with the duties falling under two different vice chancellors. Rick Stripling's decision to transition from the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs affords us the opportunity to think differently about how we are organized.

Thus, after careful consideration and many conversations across campus, we are reorganizing Student Affairs. First, we will conduct a national search to hire a Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management, who will lead the new Division of Enrollment Management, bringing together our Offices of Recruitment, Financial Aid, and Admissions. We will be seeking someone with requisite experience who can create a more holistic approach to enrollment and student success.

Second, we are also reorganizing many of our student services into a unit that will be led by a Dean of Students, returning that traditional title to an individual who is tasked with overseeing student life, residence life, student programs, Greek Life, and student conduct. We are conducting an internal search for the Dean of Students position, which will report directly to the chancellor, and we hope to have it filled in July.

While we are making these changes, it seemed appropriate to "right size" other operations across the university. This involves moving reporting lines in the organizational chart to administrative areas to promote greater administrative efficiency and appropriate oversight. For example, the Parking Office and the University Police Department will move into the Division of Finance and Administration. Disability Services and the Multicultural Center becomes a part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The Testing Center will move from Student Affairs to Academic Affairs. Career Services shifts into the Division of University Advancement. We will also consolidate all facilities and custodial services activities associated with our residence areas under Facilities Management in Finance and Administration. We will announce other changes when we settle on them.

One of A-State's defining features over the past several years has been our efforts to create a global campus and to increase our academic reach beyond Jonesboro. Dr. Thilla Sivakumaran currently leads our Global Initiatives office and our A-State Online Services program (AOS). Our campus has experienced tremendous growth in study abroad opportunities for our students, the creation of our campus in Queretaro, a significantly increased presence of international graduate and undergraduate students on our campus, and an increased online presence that spreads across the country. Our online program (via Academic Partnerships) has grown significantly, resulting in about one-third of our student body being served via AOS. I believe that it is vital to manage the growth of AOS and our global initiatives so that they continue to align with A-State's core mission. To that end, we have combined those two existing offices into the Division of Global Engagement and Outreach, which will be continue to be led by Dr. Thilla Sivakumaran.While the current services provided by GEO will not change, the director will now report directly to the chancellor (with continued oversight by the Provost’s Office for academic issues).

There are other changes that the campus should consider this fall when we come back together. For example, we need to decide who we are as a university and what we aspire to become. That discussion is best accomplished through the process of a visioning exercise (some people call this a strategic plan). We have asked several members of our campus community to serve on the steering team that will guide us as we move forward through this process. I plan to use some of my discretionary funds to hire an external planning consultant who will help us create a shared vision of our future during the fall semester. I know many colleges and departments have their own plan (or are developing one), which is good. These plans, along with our conversations this fall, will help determine the future of A-State.

That said, we do not have to wait on a completed plan to make changes that we desire to be made. For example, at the Fall Conference, I will be seeking advice from the faculty regarding next steps for us in the areas of research and graduate studies. These areas are central to our mission, and they provide significant value to our faculty. Specifically, I will be asking the faculty if we need to reconstitute the Graduate College, how we can better recruit, retain, and support our graduate students, and how the university can best support and promote our research mission.

My friends, these are exciting times at Arkansas State University. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be serving alongside of you now and look forward to building with you the future A-State. Some will inevitably ask, "Given the financial uncertainty of the university and higher education in general, is this a good time to be creating a strategic plan or to be making so many changes?" I believe that these difficult times require us to be innovative and to think strategically, while also seeking ways for our administration to be as efficient as possible. We got here together and we will move forward together. How exciting is that? To me - very! I cannot wait to get started.

Best,

Kelly