A Letter from Dr. Jake Bucher

“Co-Parenting Baby New Year”

I hope this letter finds you all returning from a deservedly restful and reenergizing gift of time. I know many of you approach August as our new year, finding yourselves in a place of hope, planning, and centering at that time – but I’d like to use the calendar change to highlight a few areas in the spirit of those three things.

The Academic Plan is nearly finalized. I have incorporated the feedback from last fall and the plan is currently under review by the Senior Leadership Team. I will take that feedback, along with any that may come from the Board of Trustees, and will share a final version. The current version (after faculty/staff feedback) is available via Updated Academic Plan. A companion document with feedback from the fall has been added as an appendix. The plan as it has been developed and now exists is a vision document, our work this spring and throughout 2024 is to move from vision to implementation and execution. While much of that implementation is dependent on me (e.g. resourcing), what and how the vision is manifested will be decided by all of us, in collaboration and in accountability in our own work.

Some of you have felt, if not seen directly, a drop in student retention this year. We’re still collecting all the data, but there seems to be at least a 2 – 4% drop in fall-to-spring retention this year. I know the message that “enrollment is everyone’s responsibility” has been emphasized at Regis, and I’d like to offer that “retention is everyone’s responsibility,” too. Please know this is a top priority of mine for Spring 2024, and I look for your partnership and engagement, counsel and support as we tend to our key responsibility: care for our students.

In addition to shared care of the Academic Plan and our students, this spring will bring a proposal for a University Senate. This is a process that began before my arrival, but has my full support. Shared governance is in essence the co-parenting of this institution, and a University Senate moves us toward more effective and healthier care for our work, this place, and the people. When the proposal is shared, I’d call on the Jesuit value of assuming positive intent, and ask that you review it objectively, setting aside any preconceived notions or negative assumptions of colleagues across other units.

2024 is going to be a wildly productive and positively impactful year, a lot of good is within our reach – we just have to help each other raise 2024 right.