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

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the beginning of the new academic year.   I want to thank each of you for your hard work and dedication to the mission of the University.  As we all work together to complete the eight major initiatives set forth by Interim President Martin, each of you has an important role to play.  Your efforts are critical to the success of our students. 

This is going to be a great year for the University of Memphis.  We have much to accomplish and much to celebrate. I look forward to working with each of you as we all contribute in our own ways to building an outstanding future for the University.

 Go Tigers!

 Link to President Martin’s initiatives: http://www.memphis.edu/presweb/

Welcome to the Provost’s blog.  The goal of the blog is to enhance communication and transparency on campus, offering a central resource for faculty, staff and students.  The blog will also provide an opportunity for questions and answers.  I will make an effort to address issues of critical importance for the campus community, along with providing periodic updates on a range of campus initiatives.  You’ll notice below the blog includes two emails forwarded to all IT staff and business officers in the last few days.  We’re in the midst of reconfiguring the IT division and also exploring how business officers are organized, trained and deployed.  I will continue to provide information as this process moves forward. 

Let me also share some very good news for the University of Memphis.  As you know, we have a range of efforts and initiatives targeting improved retention and graduation.  Given the rising costs of higher education, it’s essential we find ways to help our students complete their degrees in efficient and effective fashion. Timely degree completion is essential to our success as a university. These efforts also have implications for our funding model, in which degree completion is a core variable.  The six-year cohort project targeted the class entering in 2007.  As of May, the six year graduation rate for this group is up to 43.6%. This represents meaningful progress and great improvement.  Our efforts are paying off and we’ll continue to raise the bar for each successive cohort.  This is very much a team effort, one that cuts across the entire campus. Thank you for your hard work.  In particular, I’d like recognize the contributions of those in Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and our Advisors.  Great job! 

 Go Tigers,

 M. David Rudd

Dear University of Memphis Team Members:

As you know, significant changes have occurred in higher education. Our funding models are under pressure from a continued reduction of State funds, changing enrollment patterns and, for Tennessee universities, a funding formula that is impacted by completion outcomes. In spite of these challenging times, the University of Memphis enjoys enormous talent and excellent physical facilities, as well as the enthusiastic support and affection of our region.

In recent years, we have absorbed significant reductions (36%) in State funding by undertaking a variety of cost reduction measures. These include process improvement initiatives designed to streamline and improve processes and services to gain efficiencies in our operations.

Opportunities for improvement still exist so the University’s executive leadership is reviewing organizational structure across division boundaries. The current decentralized model that exists in some administrative areas has grown in an ad hoc manner over the last several decades. Many critical responsibilities are held by staff in positions with a wide range of requirements, responsibilities, job duties, capabilities and accountability structures.

As part of this review and analysis, some of you were recently asked to complete a Position Questionnaire. This will help us determine how each position’s functions can best be leveraged to achieve the University’s strategic goals.  If you have not yet responded, please do so right away.  Human Resources will utilize this information to conduct an analysis so we can better understand the crucial functions that you perform each day. We expect this analysis to be completed by the end of October. We will then be able to answer specific questions about individual positions.

While organizational change can be challenging, it also represents an opportunity. We ask for your support and best ideas.  Please continue to provide suggestions for improvement online at http://memphis.edu/processimprovement/.

Thank you for your continued dedication.

M. David Rudd, Provost                  David Zettergren, VP for Business & Finance

Dear University of Memphis IT Team Members:

As you know, significant changes have occurred in higher education. Our funding models are under pressure from a continued reduction of State funds, changing enrollment patterns and, for Tennessee universities, a funding formula that is impacted by completion outcomes. In spite of these challenging times, the University of Memphis enjoys enormous talent and excellent physical facilities, as well as the enthusiastic support and affection of our region.

In recent years, we have absorbed significant reductions (36%) in State funding by undertaking a variety of cost reduction measures. These include process improvement initiatives designed to streamline and improve processes and services to gain efficiencies in our operations. Opportunities for improvement still exist so the University’s executive leadership is reviewing organizational structure across division boundaries.

The current decentralized model that exists in IT and other areas has grown in an ad hoc manner over the last several decades. Many critical responsibilities are held by staff in positions with a wide range of requirements, responsibilities, job duties, capabilities and accountability structures.

As announced July 11, the information technology function has been realigned, with IT now reporting directly to the Provost’s Office. This aligns a key administrative area with the evolving needs of our students, and emphasizes the critical role that technology plays in the delivery of higher education in today’s market.

As part of this realignment, Human Resources is asking employees to provide individualized position descriptions. This will help us determine how each position’s functions can best be leveraged to achieve the University’s strategic goals.

Thank you in advance for completing the Position Questionnaire and returning to Human Resources. HR will analyze these so we can better understand the crucial functions that you perform each day. We expect this analysis to be completed by the end of October. At that time, we will be able to answer specific questions about individual positions.

While organizational change can be challenging, it also represents an opportunity. I ask for your support and best ideas.  Please continue to provide suggestions for improvement online at http://memphis.edu/processimprovement/. 

Thank you for your continued dedication.