A Letter from Dr. Karen Riley

Good afternoon colleagues, 

Well Spring Break has come and gone and I think that means we will soon be in the home stretch of the semester. I hope that you have found some time in recent weeks for some restoration and a break. The warmer days are a nice reminder that spring is truly on its way. I am grateful to be seeing so many new faces and smiles around campus now that many of us are without masks.  

Spring feels like a time of hope and promise. In many ways it feels like Regis is entering into its own spring.  Following the recent town hall and several additional college and department meetings I have been struck by all of the great initiatives and transformative efforts. We are at an inflection point. We have an extremely long history of educational excellence, and we have faced some significant challenges over the past several years. This is a new time filled with new ideas and growing momentum. There is palpable growing excitement of what is to come. Higher education is changing and will continue to change. We will need to continue to grow and change as well. Change can be a bit unsettling, however we as a community are poised to move forward advancing a positive trajectory. There will continue to be hurdles and there is no underestimating the work ahead, however there is also reason to hope.  

In early March I hosted virtual office hours specifically for our affiliate faculty. Our affiliates make important contributions to the academic endeavor at Regis and it is important to hear about their unique needs and experiences. I’m grateful to all those that came and shared their thoughts and questions. I am following up with the deans and exploring their requests. We will be offering one of these office hours once a semester moving forward. I hope that that will keep the lines of communication open for continued conversation and dialogue.  

It’s hard to believe, but Commencement is just around the corner. Since this will be my first Commencement here at Regis, I wanted to share with you some thoughts about the importance of those days. Commencement is the most important day in the life of a university; the culmination of a student’s experience and a great celebration for the faculty who have taught them. I would like to see us move in the direction of having our faculty play a more central role in Commencement. I have been working with the deans to select faculty who will now serve in many of the roles that have traditionally been done by staff. This movement is not meant in any way to take away from the significant and transformational role that our staff play in the lives of our students. It is not only important, it is critical. I hope that many staff will continue to be present at Commencement to honor and celebrate our graduates and their many accomplishments.  We may need some continued staff support, and we will reach out if that is the case. Any hourly staff that help will be given flex time or compensated with overtime (at the supervisor’s discretion). We will undoubtedly learn from this first year and make any necessary adjustments next year. I appreciate your flexibility. 

In the Fall, we sent out the first survey for feedback on the work we do in the Provost’s office. As I mentioned then, we will do this on a regular basis so that the whole community has an opportunity to offer their thoughts and perspectives on the academic enterprise at Regis.  Please take a few minutes to respond to the anonymous survey. You can answer just one or all of the questions - as you prefer. 

With my gratitude, 

Karen