President's Report to the Board of Regents
Thank you, Chair Huebsch and members of the board.
As I shared at the top of our meeting, we are listening carefully to our community, and we are taking action.
As we continue to monitor the news and its impact on our University, we remain focused on four key areas:
- Inviting people to come together around our shared values of inclusion, community, belonging and safety.
- Advancing security measures to further prioritize safety and well-being for the entire University community.
- Empowering local leaders and colleges to support our students who have concerns around in-person learning.
- Communicating what we know when we know it.
For 175 years now, the University of Minnesota has served our state through teaching and learning, research and scholarship, outreach and public service.
As your president, I am committed to doing all I can to create an environment that supports the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors so we can continue to live out our mission and positively impact Minnesota, the nation and the world.
This is part of what I heard at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast: all of us can make a career out of humanity.
I see it as our opportunity and our responsibility.
In addition to connecting with our community at the Dr. King breakfast, I had the opportunity to listen and learn from faculty and staff during a recent visit to the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Just last month, I connected with faculty and staff on campus, visited the Fond du Lac Band Human Services Medical Clinic and toured the Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic, where the University helps care for underserved families and expands access to high-quality care.
I also spent time better understanding the vital work we do at the Natural Resources Research Institute and building relationships with state legislators in Zimmerman, Grand Rapids, Hermantown and Duluth.
It was a wonderful way to kick off the New Year.
Since then, I have traveled to:
- Naples, Florida, where I spent time with donors, alumni and friends of the University.
- Washington D.C., where I participated in events with the Association of American Universities; there I also met with members of our congressional delegation including Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representatives Brad Finstad, Betty McCollum and Kelly Morrison.
- Irvine, California, where I took part in the National Academy of Medicine meeting.
Near and far, I continue to hear about how the University of Minnesota is the restless energy for change.
Our vision for the future includes building and strengthening our relationships across the University, throughout Minnesota and beyond.
One of the ways we’ll be doing this is coming up at the end of the month—the University’s annual legislative advocacy event at the State Capitol.
I am looking forward to this and to all that our 175th year entails.
One highlight includes our brand launch as we start our next academic year.
This summer, we will be present at county fairs in up to a dozen Minnesota counties, and we will continue to strengthen our presence at Minnesota’s great get together—the Minnesota State Fair.
Those events will illustrate how we as a University live out our mission and commitment to our state each and every day—and the ways our strategic roadmap will further and strengthen that commitment.
On the strategic roadmap, I am grateful to see each campus, college and unit involved—and our alumni and friends of the University are too.
This collaboration is proving important and impactful.
Already this year, we are making considerable progress on imperative #1—Prepare students to be fully engaged and active in our state, nation, and world—and we’re doing this in the areas of supporting mental health and food security.
Our Twin Cities campus is working with Second Harvest Heartland and the University of Minnesota Foundation on sourcing food for the Nutritious U Food Pantry.
This pantry reopened on January 28th, in a new, expanded space with new, expanded hours, offering healthy, fresh, culturally relevant food.
Nutritious U is also offering the options of Send a Shopper and Home Delivery to best meet the needs of our community at this time.
Last fall, this pantry and initiatives like it across the University provided more than 120,000 pounds of food over the course of 13,000 student visits.
I continue to appreciate all our community is doing to enact the roadmap across the University and positively impact our state, nation and world.
There is more work to be done, and I’m excited to do it with all of you.
After all, this is our roadmap—we created it together and we’re enacting it together.
Here’s a preview of our approach to elevating extraordinary: