A Letter from Dr. Karen Riley
Good afternoon Regis Community,
Welcome to the first Provost’s Digest of 2022! We had several requests to share the Digest more broadly, so I’d like to extend a special welcome to our colleagues outside of Academic Affairs. This Digest is issued twice a month and includes announcements, updates and celebrations across Academic Affairs. I hope you will find it informative and helpful. We welcome your input and suggestions.
Our second semester is in full swing and I am so grateful and proud for the way this community has come together, in true Regis fashion, to face the latest challenges associated with COVID and the Omicron variant. I want to acknowledge the thoughtfulness of the President’s Response Team (PRT). The flexible approach that Regis took to starting the semester illustrated an intentional balance - prioritizing safety while considering optimal pedagogical approaches to the various types of course offerings. This approach added an additional layer of planning, organization and collaboration, and would not have been possible without the efforts of all of you. I realize that making last minute adjustments takes a tremendous amount of extra work on your part, and that these adjustments are not always welcomed by our students, however we have heard nothing but praise for the intentionally and collaboration. Thank you for continuing to accommodate, adapt and adjust as this pandemic continues. The PRT is meeting on a weekly basis and is in regular communication throughout the week. Some questions have recently come in about testing on campus. We are looking into this and we will continue to keep you updated as we move through these next couple of weeks. A couple reminders:
You can now order at-home tests using the Colorado link and/or the national site:
https://covid19.colorado.gov/covid-19-testing-at-home
Our Regis dashboard is updated weekly: https://www.regis.edu/coronavirus/
Although the numbers of students in isolation right now are relatively low, we want to prepare for any possible escalations in those numbers and show our support for those that are not feeling well. So, the Provost’s Office is again gathering donations for care packages to be distributed to students isolating with COVID-19. Please bring in your donation of snacks, socks, puzzle books, or cash (for purchasing these items) to Main Hall 217. Our students appreciate that they are being thought of by the Regis community. Many, many thanks to our Student Affairs colleagues for their work directly supporting our COVID-positive students.
Thank you to all those that participated in the in person and virtual Academic Affairs Town Halls. I continue to be inspired by your thoughtfulness, excellent questions, and care for our students and one another. Please make sure your calendar is marked for the President’s Town Hall on Wednesday, February 9 from 2:30-4:30 in the Mountain View Room. I have been working closely with our new Interim President and I think you will find that she is dedicated to Regis and anxious to partner with all of you as we continue to advance our mission and our collective goals
This week’s Digest includes a summary of the work of the Student Thriving Task Force. I convened this group from across the university in July, and a number of initiatives have resulted from this collaborative work. A crucial foundation is the understanding that student enrollment, support and retention are the work of every faculty and staff member at Regis. Each of us has an important role to play in helping our Regis students thrive. Our work is not complete, as we continue to engage in small workgroups on specific issues, however we thought it important to provide a summary of our work to date. I hope you will take some time to read through the report. I am hopeful it will inspire further ideas as we continue to work toward the success of every Regis student. I want to recognize the extraordinary amount of work on the part of the members of this task force. It is difficult to capture the energy and passion of these working sessions in the document, but the commitment to our students is being felt in these new initiatives and our ongoing growth mindset.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge the impact of the recent fires. Members of our community lost their homes and have experienced other traumas, and will be facing a long and difficult rebuilding and healing process. We are working through our internal channels to provide support and resources where appropriate. We have received a variety of requests ranging from replacement diplomas to prayers. Additional information regarding opportunities to provide support will be forthcoming.
As always, please send your thoughts, comments and suggestions to us at provost@regis.edu.
With thanks for all you do,
Karen Riley, Provost