Dear Colleagues,
I hope that you had an enjoyable and rejuvenating Winter Break and that you are excited for the Spring semester.
I am writing to share some highlights on the progress made since the last report on the Outstanding Success Possibilities (OSPs) outlined in our Strategic Plan.
As part of the Transformative Student Experiences OSP, we continue to build and maintain a candidate pool of student resumes to deliver to partners on demand. More than 3,800 undergraduate and graduate students have uploaded their resumes to Handshake. Target goals are being set for each class of current students, and “challenges” are being developed to motivate students to upload resumes into Handshake.
Working toward our Market-Responsive Education OSP, one or more classes in each Core Curriculum Category has been chosen for assessment using Watermark’s software product Student Learning & Licensure (SL&L). The Core Curriculum Assessment Executive Summary has been redesigned, streamlined, and distributed to each academic college/school for Core Curriculum assessment both in the Watermark pilot and for courses assessed through traditional means.
For the Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Service OSP, two financial literacy programs were held that included more than 100 student participants. This work supports the goal of raising the University’s retention rate to 85 percent as well as our commitment to helping to reduce financial barriers to persistence and graduation for all students.
As part of the Customized Educational Models OSP, I am pleased to report that net revenue from 2024 conferences approached $250,000, more than doubling the prior year. Summer 2024 was the second year when overnight options were offered for camps. Evaluations of camp offerings will focus on net-revenue opportunities, state guidelines for working with youth, and the recruitment benefit to the University of students attending on-campus camps and conferences.
In the People First OSP, all faculty hiring and talent acquisition initiatives were transitioned to the Talent Onboarding & Performance System (TOPS). In addition, an integration was created through TOPS to post positions to HigherEdJobs.com.
Finally, conversations will begin taking place to determine how we will incorporate into the Strategic Plan OSPs work that will take place across the University to establish a pioneering Research and Development Center in the recently acquired Railroad Salvage property adjacent to campus. This space will support increased grant activity, provide opportunities for current student to collaborate with industry partners, and create new educational models and workforce development initiatives, among other exciting opportunities.
Thank you for all you do for the University and our students.
Sincerely,
Nancy Ortins Savage, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs