Dear Faculty & Staff,
New Year’s Day is a few weeks away, and the Spring 2018 Semester will not begin for almost a month. Let us use this pause between semesters to take stock of what we have recently accomplished. To that end, we have compiled a list of 2017 Fall Semester highlights for your review.
I think you will find it worthwhile to see what our University community has achieved in just the past four months. We have:
- made good progress in the areas of enrollment and fundraising;
- introduced new programs and restructured existing ones to enhance both recruitment and retention;
- continued efforts to stabilize our financial outlook with cost-containment efforts;
- invested in the faculty with a laptop-refresh program;
- continued to improve the physical campus in a financially responsible manner;
- and added to our national reputation through the achievements of so many of our colleagues, researchers, academic units, student academic competition teams, athletic teams and others.
It is amazing to think that all this has occurred in just the past four months. Stop and look back to see how far we have come in 2017. I hope that doing so will create for you the same sense of gratitude, pride and confidence in our University family that I feel every day.
At the same time, I hope that you will approach 2018 with a spirit of optimism, creativity, and imagination. As we move forward, we will need to innovate and think differently.
Thank you for all you do. Enjoy the break, and I look forward to seeing you in 2018.
Sincerely,
Matthew J. Wilson
President
The University of Akron