Greetings,

As we begin the Fall term in 2012, I feel a continued sense of optimism about the forward progress of our campus.  Our dual enrollment programs continue to grow; we have an increased number of international students from an ever-expanding list of countries; and our incoming first-year class is, by all reports, very active and engaged.  I note an increased number of lectures, events, and activities available to the campus community and the public.  We have a very impressive group of new faculty that have been recruited to join our ranks.  Plans are underway for the addition of several new graduate programs for the Fall of 2013 that should yield a healthy increase in enrollment.  Our initial numbers for new enrollees in winter are way above last year, though this is a very preliminary figure.

One of the most significant undertakings of the past year has been the extended discussion and planning around the topic of student success.  All of us in higher education know that we must continue to push for better completion rates of our undergraduates.  Across the country, too many students fail to complete their degrees and often end up with debt and no diploma.  We want to do everything we can to ensure that doesn’t happen here at UM-Flint.  Our colleagues have worked very hard to develop strategies that will keep students moving forward toward a degree, and I am personally excited to see what the future holds.  We had a very slight increase in enrollment this year, and all of this good work will send a message that we welcome additional students and are invested in their success.

Our featured faculty convocation speaker this Fall spoke to us so eloquently about student success, noting that it was more about the quality of execution of a series of incremental practices rather than the “one big thing” or grand vision as some might expect.  I was both energized and heartened by his message and believe that it speaks well to what we can accomplish.  The “Recruitment and Retention” team already meets each Wednesday to share information about upcoming events, ideas about best practices, and discussions about how we can achieve “quality of execution.”  The group has become so large that we may need to find a different meeting venue, which suggests that we are, in fact, bringing more people to the table.

I would encourage everyone to undertake a brief exercise regarding quality of execution.  Find a few examples of what you consider to be a “smooth transaction” or execution – this could take place almost anywhere – a retail store, a hotel, an automotive service center, our university, another school, a hospital.  Take a few minutes to reflect on this success – was it about the staff, the physical layout, the “rules of engagement,” the procedures, the communication process?  All of the above?  Some of the above?  And then, share with campus colleagues what you observed and whether there are any “take-aways” for us.  I guarantee you’ll learn something, including an understanding that it is far easier to identify what’s wrong than it is to dissect what’s right about a situation!

As we continually strive to be “Leaders and Best” in all we do, let’s keep in mind that we always want to instill in our students – our reason for being – a sense of purpose, a passion for learning and doing, and a commitment to place.  That will be the greatest success of all.

Compete

UM-Flint has been recognized by the National Weather Service as a “Storm Ready” campus.  There are 100 colleges and universities across the country that have this designation, and we are one of them!  I was told that the winter forecast is “warm and dry.”  Let’s hope so.

Our campus has been named a “Best in the Midwest” for the 11^th consecutive year by the Princeton Review.  We were also named as No. 20 of Top Public Schools in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report.

Convene

As we all know, there has been much discussion about saving money through sharing services across jurisdictional lines.  The Genesee Regional Chamber has formed a Shared Services Advisory Council, whose purpose is to “create the potential for economic development over the long term by implementing sustainable processes and systems that will increase efficiency and taxpayer value in public service delivery.”  I have been asked to serve on this council by its chair, John Cherry, and look forward to a fruitful discussion that can help to move our region forward.
 
Every year, Vice Chancellor Mary Jo Sekelsky hosts an “Ice Cream Social” for RAs, Housing staff, and orientation leaders as a start to the Fall semester.  It was a great evening—a quick break for our hard-working students and staff before the rush of Fall.

                                                                               Ice Cream Social
Each Fall, I host a gathering with our local school superintendents, education faculty, and campus leadership.  It’s a chance to “meet and greet” and share ideas and thoughts about partnerships and progress.  This Fall was no exception, and we were applauded for our campus efforts to extend into the community (in one case, facilitating the GISD Fall Workshop for 1200 employees of GISD by allowing them to park on the White Building lot and board school buses to ride to their destination).  That’s partnership!  Our superintendents event has always been organized and staffed by Beulah Alexander, SEHS Executive Secretary, and is such an enjoyable evening for all.  Once again, Beulah outdid herself, and she left Ross House with a smile on her face and a big “thank you” from all of us.  Beulah went home that evening and we sadly learned that she passed away the next morning.  She was an integral part of our campus family, worked diligently to honor our veterans each year, and she will be greatly missed.

Connect

We connect with our community in many ways.  Sometimes those connections are recognized, but often not.  It was good to receive this “above and beyond” thank you about “Go Blue on the Bricks” for a connection from Mark McGlashen at WJRT: 

“…things can get [crazy] when a broadcast falls apart… a couple of your employees at U of M Flint helped save the day for me last Friday.  The remote we attempted last Friday was a little bigger and more work that we anticipated. We had some phone and internet problems in the afternoon and Pam Zemore and David Arnould worked together to fix our issues even though the fix was not easy. I think they went above and beyond to help late on a Friday afternoon.  Little did they know how important this would be to us later in the evening.

When the Spinners came on stage for the concert part of our broadcast, the audio on the stage failed and the Spinners walked off leaving us up in the air as to what was going on. The internet connection allowed us to real time - back time a make shift cover show of car coverage from down the street then rejoin the concert once the audio was fixed.  The timing was a mess but we made it all work because of the great internet connection.     

I just want to thank you and Scott for allowing Pam and David to help us out last Friday. They really saved the day for us.”

Speaking of “Go Blue on the Bricks,” this is now one of our largest campus events.  Started just three years ago as part of “Back to the Bricks,” this Friday night activity brings together alumni, faculty and staff for a fun and very social evening.  This year we had more than 750 attendees – a record – and a number of them were from out of town.  Kudos to our alumni relations development team and great volunteers!  I have received numerous positive comments about this event!

                                                                 Volunteers, "Start Your Engines"

                                   Linda Boose, Sherry Schlinker, Heather Nassar, Chancellor Ruth J. Person

Many of us try to connect with our new students by donating books to be distributed to new students.  This year my choice was The Little Red Writing Book.  Here’s what new student Alexandria McLean had to say:

“Chancellor Person, I wanted to sincerely thank you for donating The Little Red Writing Book to the book stand at the new student fair and convocation.  As soon as I laid eyes on it, I thought that it was perfect for me.  As an English with a Specialization in Writing major, I feel it will most certainly come in handy.  You have my gratitude for helping me further my dreams of writing and I look forward to this book guiding my way through future essays.”

We are all excited to see the progress being made at the Urban Alternatives House.  A special “Open House” allowed many of us to see this work in progress.  I drive by every day on the way to campus and can see the outside work, but it was nice to see what’s going on inside.

                                                                           Urban Alternatives House

On My Calendar