Dear Colleagues,
 
I am pleased to provide you with updates on the important work currently happening in several campuswide task forces. My sincere thanks to everyone serving on the task forces, committees, and working groups.
 
The Student Success and Equitable Outcomes Task Force has brought forward an initial round of recommendations for me to consider. I will meet with members this week to discuss these recommendations. Meanwhile, their work continues, which will extend through the 2023-24 academic year. I’m grateful for the dedication and thoughtful deliberations of the Student Success and Equitable Outcomes Task Force members and look forward to more recommendations.
 
The Revenue Generation and Institutional Savings Task Force released a final report in June, and we are prioritizing projects for investment that will increase revenue for the campus. I have asked Sarah Mangum, associate vice chancellor of Budget and Institutional Analysis, to lead implementation and evaluation of endorsed projects. I am also requesting that each dean, vice chancellor and vice provost identify and implement two to five process improvements within their unit over the next year, and a letter further describing this work will be sent in January.
 
The Sustaining Teaching and Research Task Force, or START, launched in June. Five of its six committees are formed and have started their important work of prioritizing the issues they will address. These issues were shared with me during departmental listening tour visits, meetings with the Academic Senate, and issues submitted through the START website.
 
Members for five of the six START committees are posted online:

• The Future of Graduate Education
• The Future of Undergraduate Education
• Increasing Our Research Excellence
• Assuring Faculty Equity and Sustainable Workload
• Optimizing Our Facilities 

The Improving Campus Support Services Committee is being finalized and will begin meeting in the new year.
 
The Future of Graduate Education Committee began meeting in August and continues to work on its top priorities. The committee spearheaded the development of a tool to assist graduate programs and graduate groups with enrollment planning for January’s admission cycle. The Graduate Enrollment Planning Tool, shared last week by Graduate Studies, will help programs to project enrollment and student support costs for the 2024-25 academic year.
 
We will schedule a town hall in early 2024 to share more updates on the START committees’ progress and seek further campus input. Faculty, staff, and students can continue to submit feedback via the START website.
 
Thank you for your support and your engagement.

All the best,
Mary

Mary Croughan
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor