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Like universities around the world, our institution is riding the tides of change. 

After decades of sustained growth, the number of high school students entering college nationally is in decline. The students who do arrive have greater social, financial, and academic support needs than at any time in recent memory. Public investment in colleges and universities is constrained by other priorities, causing political leaders to search for more focused and cost-effective educational approaches. 

For all the forces of disruption an organization can anticipate, we know that others will come from unanticipated directions. That is why the work we do today must be open-minded, future focused, and inclusive of all the richness of experience and expertise our campus cultivates.

In Spring 2020, a season defined by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, É«ÖÐɫ’s investments in future-focused planning provided a framework on which to build a rapid response to unprecedented shifts in operational need. Though the timeline was accelerated, many resiliency goals for 2030 were already underway when the brunt of the pandemic became clear, and our campus nimbly scaled technology-mediated learning for students, implemented telecommuting solutions for faculty and staff, and reimagined digital infrastructure for the future of our university.

We know that change does not come when we are ready; we must always be ready for change. Dramatic shifts in operations that would normally require years of deliberation, consultation. and review are possible on a swift timescale – we need only a clear vision for success and the will to move forward.