Dear Colleagues
As another academic year comes to an end I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude to every member of our faculty and staff community. Your commitment, creativity, resilience, and care have made this year, and indeed the past five years since I arrived, remarkable. In a few days we will celebrate one of the most uplifting traditions of university life: commencement. It is an incredible privilege to welcome families and friends to campus and to send another class of graduates off into the world. This year, we will celebrate 521 graduates who leave our college prepared not only with new knowledge and professional skills, but the capacity to also engage thoughtfully with the world around them with their ideas, talents, and passions. Their accomplishments reflect the dedication and care each of you has brought to their time with us.
I also want to extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who participated in the recent five-year decanal review. Thank you for your thoughtful engagement, honest reflections, and commitment to the continued success of our college. The review arrives at a meaningful moment as it aligns with the conclusion of our five-year strategic plan that we crafted together. Looking back, I am struck not only by how many of those goals we have achieved, but by how often we have exceeded them. In the coming year, the dean’s office will share with you a comprehensive update on our strategic metrics, but even a brief glimpse reveals the extraordinary work we have accomplished together:
- We hired 19 new tenure-track faculty, 12 from underrepresented employment groups.
- We created a new cross-disciplinary undergraduate degree that has exceeded enrollment projections by more than 538% in its first three years.
- We created 4 new 4+1 pathways.
- 13 professional programs have been successfully reaccredited.
- We moved our college budget into the black despite absorbing two significant reductions totaling approximately $2.25 million.
- We surpassed fundraising goals by more than 450%, securing over $55 million in endowments, gifts, and deferred estate commitments.
- We established new shared governance structures, including a Research Task Force, Dean's Faculty Advisory Council, Dean's AI Task Force, semiannual collegewide town halls, and a Dean's Student Advisory Council.
- We launched a college-wide anti-racism initiative that included the racism untaught faculty workshop and empathy training for academic leadership.
- We strengthened data-informed decision-making and improved budget transparency.
- We achieved 35% growth in undergraduate enrollment.
- We created a new student academic residential community.
- We completed a major adaptive-reuse renovation and relocation in Portland.
- Through the TallWood Institute partnership with the Port of Portland, a new Acoustics Research Laboratory has been opened.
- We supported 11 Spatial Justice Fellows.
- We expanded opportunities for research-informed teaching in urban agriculture with additional land and $1 million in central university support.
These accomplishments belong to all of us. They are the result of thousands of acts of leadership, scholarship, service, mentorship, problem-solving, and care. They are evidence of what becomes possible when talented people work together in pursuit of a shared vision. You should be proud of what you have accomplished.
At the same time, we know that challenges remain. We continue to face significant headwinds, including the university's projected institutional deficit of $65 million. These realities demand difficult conversations and thoughtful choices, however, if the past five years have taught us anything, it is that our greatest strength is not found in any single program, initiative, or budget line; rather, it is found in our people and in our capacity to work together.
As summer begins, I hope you find time for rest, renewal, and reflection. Thank you for all you do and for all we have accomplished together.
With gratitude and warm wishes for a restorative summer,
Adrian Elisheva Parr Zaretsky
Dean, College of Design
