Recast | Provost Spring Quarter Evaluation Week Update
From: “McAvity, David” <mcavityd@evergreen.edu>
Date: Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 12:14 PM
Dear Colleagues,
Congratulations! We have made it to the finish line of an exceedingly complex year. In this update, I provide some invitations and announcements, followed by updates on the divisional budget and New Academic Directions summer plans.
Invitations and Announcements:
- Conferral of Faculty Emeritus Status – Thursday, June 10, 2:00 p.m., https://evergreen.zoom.us/j/82713256777
- Congratulations to our eleven colleagues who recently underwent a review process that has resulted in the award of continuing faculty contracts:
Lalita Calabria John Caraher Kris Coffey
Cali Ellis Dion Gouws Shawn Hazboun
Vuslat Katsanis Prita Lal Maria Isabel Morales
Melissa Nivala Brad Proctor
- Commencement Ceremony – Friday, June 11, 1:00. The link to the virtual ceremony will be available on the 11th at 12:30 p.m. at www.evergreen.edu/graduation.
- Fall academic retreat – Wednesday, September 15, 10-3:30; Monday, September 20, 1-5; Wednesday, September 22, 1-5. More details to follow later this summer.
- Fall governance calendar — attached
- June 10, 2021 Board of Trustees meeting video presentation: Sustainability in Prisons Project Request & Update by Co-director Kelli Bush
SAL budget update: Many of you were in attendance for the College budget update earlier this week; a summary of the key points was also sent out by John Carmichael (see attached). The Student and Academic Life division approached the needed cuts by reducing budgets in most commensurate with enrollment and faculty line decreases. Academic program budgets, program secretary support, student worker funding, and faculty professional travel funds all saw such reductions.
We also made restructuring decisions achieved by eliminating vacant positions and consolidated some areas of operation, such as the visual arts and sciences, in the Deans area, and in Student Activities. We continue to work with the UFE to address the imbalances between faculty and students caused by our current enrollment.
This summer will be an important time for areas who experienced cuts to recalibrate how the deliver their services. There will likely be some reduction in hours and level of services in some curricular support areas, which you will hear about over the summer. Faculty are encouraged to engage with curricular support areas in the library, media, visual arts and sciences early in your planning to help staff manage the requests effectively.
New Academic Directions: — There has been a tremendous amount of work accomplished this year on these initiatives. Look for a status report from Larry Geri next week. This summer, the focus will be on completing the Paths work, developing new Certificates, and design and development of FLEX/School of Professional Studies (a description of the work is also attached). Project leads, working together with me and Lori Blewett, will put shape to the next phase of New Academic Directions, which we’ll report on at the launch of the 2021-2022 academic year.
Thank you again for all of your dedicated work during this challenging year. I recognize that you’ve been providing the best educational experience for students in the context of the pandemic while, at the same time, planning for Evergreen’s future. Most of you will also be engaged in significant work this summer. At the same time, I do hope all of you will take some time to rejuvenate in preparation for coming back to more in-person engagement in the fall. I look forward to seeing you then.
Best wishes,
David
David McAvity | he-him | Interim Provost and Vice President for Student & Academic Life | The Evergreen State College | 360.867.6400
