A Letter from Dr. Karen Riley

Good Morning,

I hope that the first couple weeks of our new academic year are going well for each of you. It has been great to see the campus so alive with students, faculty and staff. Dr. Nicki Gonzales and I dropped by the student center and had lunch with a few new students. Once they realized they weren't in trouble for anything, they shared their stories and how excited they were to be at Regis. I will continue to try to eat with the students on a weekly basis, as my schedule allows; it helps keep me grounded in why we are all here and allows me to hear directly from our students.

Although I think I can speak for all of us when I say we wish we were living in a post-COVID era, the truth is that it is still very much a part of our reality. The Delta variant is obviously concerning. We are fortunate that a high percentage of our Regis community are vaccinated. We also know that breakthrough infections continue to occur locally and nationally, and we must remain vigilant to keep one another safe. I want to reassure you that the President's Response Team (PRT) is monitoring the situation. We in the Provost's Office are also planning and preparing for any necessary pivots—both large and small. Although we hope we will not need to implement these plans we want to assure you that we will be ready should they be necessary. I will continue to use these newsletters to keep you updated.

I want to offer a special congratulations and thank you to our colleagues in Student Affairs for their recent efforts: a successful move-in and orientation, many fun Welcome Week events, and the wonderful Loyolapalooza celebration this past weekend. Some students tried (unsuccessfully) to get me on the spinning-cage ride at Loyolapalooza—but I still had a great time. Likewise, I enjoyed my first Regis College Convocation. What a wonderful tradition to welcome our newest traditional students into university life and to formally engage them into the mission of this university.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the pain that is being experienced by our friends, colleagues and other community members across the country. Our hearts go out to those impacted by the recent hurricane. We are in communication with the leadership of Loyola New Orleans and have expressed our eagerness to provide support in whatever ways are beneficial. Additionally, I want to again acknowledge the members of our military community and their families. Please know that we continue to be here for you and your families.

I hope you are finding these Provost's Digests helpful - to keep you informed and up to date. As promised, this edition includes an executive summary of my presentation at the State-of-the University address. As always, please send any feedback or suggestions to provost@regis.edu. We did add a virtual Town Hall, based on feedback, to accommodate remote employees. You can find the details at the bottom of the newsletter. Also, this time of year there are bound to be lots of questions about a variety of things. Please know that students, faculty and staff are always welcome to reach out to provost@regis.edu. We are here to help and happy to re-direct to appropriate individuals when the questions are outside our purview.

Thank you for your continued good work on behalf of our students.

Respectfully,

 
Dr. Karen Riley
Provost