Update from Stacey

Before I jump into my regular update, I want to briefly acknowledge the events yesterday in Minneapolis and how stressful and upsetting the news is right now. Please take care of yourselves during these stressful times. Because Minneapolis schools are closed and there are other developing impacts, please coordinate with your supervisor and/or your unit director as needed. 

Now onto my regular update. First, I wanted to extend my invitation regarding sharing feedback about your unit director. You can do so by either emailing me or scheduling a meeting. I appreciate hearing your perspective as I prepare to write performance appraisals.

Before the holiday break, I listened to A New Kind of University, episode 172 of People I (Mostly) Admire, which is primarily an interview with Michael Crow, the president of Arizona State University. The episode discusses how they have created a culture of innovation and the perception of higher education in the U.S. It talks about how demographics and enrollment management influence higher education and the strategies they used to address pressing issues in higher education. Crow’s book, The Fifth Wave: The Evolution of American Higher Education, has been on my reading list for a few years now, and this finally encouraged me to pick it up. If you're interested in having an informal book discussion about it, let me know (though, I probably won’t finish this for a few weeks)!