Firsts and lasts

This time of year brings an undeniable sense of excitement and optimism as the Fall semester begins. What’s more, this week bring so many “firsts” all across our 14 State System universities…the first day in college for more than 15,000 freshman students—and for many, the first time living away from home. This is the first year for many “Generation Z” students to enter college as we welcome our largest cohort of students born in the 21st century. This also is the first semester on the job for more than 300 new faculty and staff members, who are dedicated to helping all of our students succeed.

It seems that with “firsts” come some “lasts.” This is my last week in the State System, having served seven years as president of Clarion University and one year as interim chancellor. Looking back on the past 12 months, it’s amazing how quickly the time has gone by, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together as we launched our System Redesign effort, which is transforming the State System for the future.

This is my last blog in the chancellor’s seat, but this is not the last you will see of me. No, this great System will forever be a part of my life. My spouse—Peggy—is a proud faculty member, so I will enjoy observing the State System’s continued forward momentum from that vantage point.

You have made these years more fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. The laughter and sorrow we’ve shared, the triumphs and challenges we’ve experienced, and the moments and memories we’ve created have enriched my life enormously. I only hope that—in some small way—I’ve been able to do the same for you.

A year of transformation and transition

To say 2017-18 was a year for change would be an understatement. I was honored when the Board of Governors asked me to serve as interim chancellor this past year and to ensure the forward momentum of transformation across the System while we searched for a new chancellor.

As you know, the System’s transformation process began two years ago with a top-to-bottom review aimed at ensuring the long-term success of our 14 universities. Based on input from stakeholders like you, the Board established three strategic priorities: 1) Ensuring student success; 2) Leveraging university strengths; and 3) Transforming the governance/leadership structure

Over this past year, we have undertaken a System Redesign effort that is guiding our decisions for the future. We developed a process to operationalize the System Redesign by establishing small, focused task groups to accomplish specific objectives. Based on the work of the task groups, the Board has begun cutting red tape and already is reshaping the State System to be more student focused and less bureaucratic. Thus far, the Board has:

• Delegated authority to the chancellor to approve new degree programs brought forward by the universities—increasing the speed at which new programs move from concept to reality and allowing our students to have quicker access to new programs. 

• Streamlined the processes for facilities planning and real property acquisition/disposal—allowing our universities to operate more efficiently. 

• Eliminated or updated more than two dozen outdated, unnecessary, or burdensome policies—enabling our universities to be more nimble. 

• Identified additional policy changes to provide greater flexibility to our universities—empowering them to better meet the needs of students. 

• Launched a webpage to enable everyone to engage in the System Redesign effort, provide comments on proposed policy changes, and track the progress of the task groups—ensuring you the opportunity to provide input into the process. 

The System Redesign will move forward under the leadership of our new chancellor, Dr. Dan Greenstein. He spent some time last month meeting with stakeholders as part of his onboarding and transition efforts this summer and is excited to hit the ground running on Sept. 4. In fact, he is planning to visit every university within the first 100 days to meet with students, faculty, staff, trustees, and community/business/legislative leaders. It’s going to be a busy Fall semester, but it will certainly reflect Dr. Greenstein’s energy and enthusiasm for the State System as our forward momentum continues.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.