Dear Colleagues:

President Martin forwarded this letter from Susan Campbell, a parent of several U of M students.  He asked that I share this with the U of M community.  Ms. Campbell describes in wonderful fashion the impact one person can have, impact that reaches well beyond a single student and family, impact that continues to ripple across Memphis and beyond.  Steven’s passion, commitment and energy are inspiring.  He is, without a doubt, a very bright light at the U of M. I find it comforting to know that not only is Steven here, but there are many, many stories like this on our campus and in our community.  Thank you Steven.  And thank you to our faculty and staff who work hard each and every day sharing the great things happening at the U of M and the opportunity to build a great future.       

 Best Regards, David

Hello, President Martin.

I wanted to tell you about an amazing employee you have in the Admissions and Recruitment Department at the University of Memphis.

His name is Steven Mizell.

Our family first met Steven when we were having an issue regarding the level of scholarship that our oldest would receive; our fantastic counselors at White Station High School told us to contact Steven.  We did.  He met us, told us he would take care of our issue, find the answer, and fix any problem we were having, and he did just that, very quickly.  

He made us feel at ease about this overwhelming process that is “college.” That alone is an incredible skill and we began to see that the possibility of having three students at the University within three years might just be possible….even though we are a “normal” family with little means to send one….let alone three.

Our eldest, Luke, is now a sophomore at the University and has thoroughly enjoyed his time at school.  He has gone to Steven with questions and Steven either has the answer, finds the answer, or sends Luke to the person who knows the answer.

Our daughter, Jesse, is now a freshman at Memphis.  She had narrowed her search to two schools.  She was invited to a basketball game by the admissions office.  After that game, which Steven attended with her, she said, “If I had been on the fence about which university to attend, these people would have convinced me to attend Memphis.”

Jesse has gone to Steven several times with questions and he makes her feel like he is always ready to help her.   

He set up a personal campus tour day for her, where she met with the Admissions, Scholarship, Honors, and Nursing departments; she also was able to go to lunch with a student.  He made that happen.

After moving onto campus, Jesse wanted to find a job on the campus and each time Steven knew of an opening, he told her who to contact.  She is now working in the recruitment offices, talking to potential students.

Our youngest, Anna, is a senior, and has already established a relationship with Steven.  When he visits White Station, she usually gets to see him and talk to him there.  Because her brother and sister have had such good experiences at the University of Memphis, she is planning to attend there in the Fall of 2014.  Steven already sent her on her personal campus tour and he has answered her questions and helped her along in the process as well.|

Steven has helped us, as parents, by supporting the well-being of our children, not only in the admissions process, but also as they walk through this adventure, deciding what to do “next,” from overseas study to interning.  He is a part of their journey at the University and their experience has been so much richer because he is.

Steven has been such an advocate for our children and such an incredible help to us as parents.  We, along with most families, want to, but do not see how we can “make college happen” for our children.  We know, bottom line, that we can’t “make it happen,” but we do see that the blessing of knowing people like Steven Mizell makes the process much more clear, much more simple, much more feasible…and through amazing grace, our kids are there, enjoying college like they never imagined.

Steven should be celebrated.

Thanks for your time.

-Susan Campbell

Dear Colleagues:

 A brief update for you.  As you know, the University is in the midst of resolving a $20+ million funding gap.  Most recently, I forwarded a message to all Deans, identifying a target amount that would need to be recaptured from carry-forward funds across the colleges.  The total amount being recaptured from our core academic units is $7.7 million.  As you can see, it’s less than half of the total.  The identified amount is variable across colleges based on available funds, along with mission-related plans.  We are also continuing our strategic hiring review of all positions, faculty and staff alike.  Positions are being reviewed based on the following criteria: 1) relative need for delivery of our core mission components (advancing retention, graduate, general curriculum delivery, and advancing our research mission, 2) unit level performance (both productivity and efficiency) , 3) implications for our business model, and 4) essential university services.  As a reminder, we will be hosting  Town Hall meetings on October 3^rd and 4^th. I would certainly encourage you to attend.  Thank you again for your hard work and all that you do for the University of Memphis. 

 Regards, David

On Tuesday, I had lunch with Marvin Ellison, Executive Vice President of The Home Depot, who was on campus to speak at the Fogelman College. 

 Marvin is a graduate of The University of Memphis and a native of Brownsville, Tennessee.  Marvin told me that during his freshman year at the University, he was asked to compose a paper in an English class, an assignment that he found to be quite difficult.  That was apparent to his professor who asked to see Marvin after class.  His professor suggested that Marvin was not quite prepared to perform at the freshman college English level, so he told Marvin, “You are going to have to work hard to catch up.  Come see me during my office hours.  I will coach you and give you additional work which will help you have a better chance to succeed.  It will take hard work.  Do you want this opportunity?”

 Marvin took the opportunity, graduated with distinction from the University of Memphis, obtained an MBA from Emory University, and today is an extraordinary business leader, philanthropist, and grateful alumnus.  

 Recently, I was asked by a member of our faculty, “What are you going to do to deal with the fact that students we are asked to teach are often not prepared to learn at this level?”  Provost Rudd answered eloquently on our behalf, “We’re going to teach them.”

 That’s our job.  Thank you for “teaching them.”

 R. Brad Martin

Dear Colleagues:

As we explore ways to more effectively and efficiently move students toward their goals of a degree, employment and a commitment to lifelong learning, I want to make sure we don’t lose focus on the essential research mission of our University.  Our commitment to research excellence is unwavering, as is our commitment to creating and disseminating new knowledge through research, artistic expression, and interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship. 

I want to assure you I have no doubt we can and will do many things exceptionally well, as is reflected in both our vision and mission statements: http://www.memphis.edu/stratplan/.  The University has made remarkable strides over the last decade and is increasingly being recognized as one of America’s great metropolitan research universities. Our faculty members are engaged in cutting edge and exciting research; research that has profound impact on the lives of those in Memphis, the state of Tennessee and across the globe. 

At a time when we’re actively engaged in a conversation about innovation in the classroom, it’s important that message be coupled with our unwavering commitment to research excellence.  It’s our vision, our mission and, let me assure you, our future.  Go Tigers.

Sincerely,

David

Dear Colleagues:

You are all aware of the challenges higher education faces today, along with our specific challenges here at the University of Memphis. Now let me share some of the solutions offered by our talented and creative faculty.  First, though, a hearty thank you to Tracy Robinson, the director of online education, Dr. Dan Lattimore, and Dr. Dick Irwin.  I can’t emphasize enough that our success in helping our students achieve their dreams is driven not just by implementing our curriculum, but in many cases by creative thinking, dogged persistence and a hopeful perspective.  Here are two great examples:

• Pam, 52 year old retail executive, who returned to the University in the fall 2012 semester with 49 credit hours as a sophomore. She was last enrolled at the University 20 years ago and was motivated to return and finish her degree when she was named one of five individuals to replace the CEO of her company. She has now completed 5 online courses, received 30 credit hours of Experiential Learning Credit, and passed 3 CLEP exams. She started the fall 2013 semester with senior standing and 104 credit hours. Within one year, she moved from needing 71 credit hours to finish her degree to needing 16 hours to finish her degree. She plans to graduate in August or December of 2014.
• Kevin, 47 year old from Florida, also enrolled with us this fall. He happened to learn about our online programs after planning to attend a for-profit university. Through a few phone calls and email exchanges, he decided instead to attend the University even as an out-of-state student because of the opportunities through the competency-based initiative and Experiential Learning Program through University College.

Each day we’ll be presented with multiple opportunities to be creative, innovate and demonstrate our commitment and caring for our students.  Let me encourage you to fully engage the opportunity, and share your thoughts and ideas as we build a university for the 21^st century. Go Tigers!

Warm Regards,

David