A Letter from Dr. Karen Riley

Colleagues, 

Well, the first snowflakes of the season are falling outside as I write this. Winter appears to be on its way!  I enjoyed experiencing my first Regis holiday tradition — Halloween on campus was lots of fun! Congratulations to the Dayton Memorial Library on their big win in the group category of the costume contest, to Pharmacy for second place, and Nursing for third. Way to represent, Academic Affairs! And what’s not to love about having all those cute kids running around in their costumes on a Friday afternoon? I am already looking forward to the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on campus, which will be here before we know it! 

On the COVID front, you may have already seen that our campus-wide vaccination rate is above 90%, and our campus case rate is 1.33%. Compared to the Colorado test positivity rate of 8.49%, we are doing exceptionally well.  While we cannot yet claim victory over the virus, we can and should be grateful for the ways this community is working hard to keep it at bay. Your efforts are what is making a difference! 

I want to thank all those that took the time to provide feedback via the survey that was included in the last Provost’s Digest. We shared the feedback with all of the members of the Office of the Provost, and are working on identifying themes from the input and will have an update and action items in upcoming editions of the Provost’s Digest.  We will continue to solicit responses a few times per year to give people an opportunity to contribute anonymously. We want to embrace a growth mindset and this involves reflection, action, and feedback. As always, please also feel free to reach out to me at provost@regis.edu.  

It has been wonderful to see how our community is engaging with our neighbors in the Safe Outdoor Space. Our office will be bringing dinner for the community this week.  It’s easy to sign up—and sharing the responsibilities with colleagues makes it doable. You can sign up to bring a meal here.  

As I have shared, I have been eating lunch about once a week in the student center.  Last week Dr. Nicki Gonzales and I ate lunch with a couple of our first-year students.  These two young women were so impressive and full of excitement.  They had so many positive things to say.  They both feel supported in their courses and one shared how helpful the tutoring in Statistics from The Learning Commons has been for her Statistics class. The other student shared that a trip to Moab during fall break was amazing. You may not always hear these types of comments from students, but you are making a positive difference in their lives and your efforts are noticed.  Thank you for all that you do.    

Sincerely, 

Karen Riley, Provost