University Reorganization: Message from the President

 Dear Faculty and Staff,

Since I began serving as President on July 1, 2021, I have been actively engaged in the university’s strategic planning process, with a focus on Reigniting Our Strategic Directions. I appreciate all who attended the recent open forums or participated in one of my meetings with our various shared governance bodies and provided feedback to further refine our plan. I am pleased to share the news that, at its most recent meeting, the university’s Board of Trustees has formally approved our plan, which we will formally launch in January.

As I have been working on updating and revising the strategic plan, I have also been considering what organizational structure would best support our aspirations in the Strategic Directions. I have concluded, in consultation with Provost Shane P. Martin, that we should restructure and rename parts of the university administration. These changes reflect my close working relationship with Provost Martin and the central role that the academic enterprise must play in the advancement of our excellence as a university. The guiding principle for the restructure is for administrative leaders who report to the president to hold a version of a president title and those who report to the provost to hold a version of a provost title. I believe this restructure aligns the university with common practice in higher education and helps make our administrative structure more transparent and intelligible. This is a restructure of titles only and does not involve the creation of any new positions. The changes will take effect on December 1.

Since the original Strategic Directions was approved by the Board of Trustees, Chris Van Liew has played a central role in leading the implementation of the plan while continuing to lead ITS as our Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. Chris will now serve as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and will report to me. To allow Chris to take on these new responsibilities, Travis Nation will be promoted to Vice Provost for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer.

In order to allow Provost Martin to more fully partner with me on strategic initiatives and provide effective oversight across his areas of responsibility including Academic Affairs, Student Development, Enrollment Management and Information Technology Services, Bob Dullea will serve as Deputy Provost and oversee the day-to-day operations of the Division of Academic Affairs. He will give up the title of Vice President for Planning.

One critical aspect of our strategic initiatives will be to integrate Student Development and Academic Affairs, fostering the delivery of more holistic and unified academic and co-curricular experiences for our students. To reflect this integration and support stronger connections across all student-facing areas, I am pleased to announce title changes for the following academic and co-curricular leaders:

I offer my appreciation to those who are taking on new roles and responsibilities.

Respectfully,

Eduardo M. Peñalver
President