Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,

The challenges facing higher education today are real and significant. Reduced research funding, regulatory changes, and political pressures continue to impact our work. Yet our capacity to meet these challenges is equally real, and robust. I see evidence of this strength every day in our faculty’s innovative teaching and groundbreaking research, our staff’s problem-solving and commitment to excellence, and our students’ energy and ambition. And in our new president, Domenico Grasso, I see a strong and steady leader who arrives at work each day ready to meet the moment. 

To summarize the many conversations, meetings, and strategy sessions I’ve attended recently, three priorities emerge: we must maintain the integrity of our values, provide opportunities for our community to collaborate and engage with leadership, and above all, promote and defend the core mission of the university.

Defending Academic Freedom

This mission begins with a continual and non-negotiable commitment to academic freedom. Our faculty must be free to teach, research, and engage in scholarly discourse without political interference. This is a foundational value that is inextricable from our institutional identity. 

We’re not waiting passively for challenges to emerge. Through interactions with peers at other institutions, as well as our team in government relations, we are monitoring national trends and learning from one another. As political pressures continue to arrive at our doors, we’ll be prepared with clear policies, strong legal frameworks, and unwavering institutional support. Academic freedom flourishes when institutions defend it actively, tangibly, and vocally.

Expanding Engagement

Our path forward must build on faculty and staff engagement. We’ll continue expanding consultation processes and create early dialogue around campus-wide initiatives. Throughout the year, I meet with various groups representing faculty, staff, and students. This summer the Office of the Provost is looking at how to expand these opportunities and others like them.

Your perspectives directly influence our decisions. I encourage you to fill out this brief, open-ended survey and share your successes and suggestions about collaboration and interdisciplinary opportunities on campus.

Staff colleagues, please note this form is open to both staff and faculty. Your expertise and dedication make everything we do possible. From research support to student services to campus operations, you enable our academic mission every day. 

We’re exploring new ways to deepen staff engagement with provost’s office leadership and expand collaborative opportunities across the university.

What’s Next

As I noted above, many in our community have asked important questions about academic freedom, the values of our campus community, and opportunities for dialogue. I value this input, and these conversations are shaping our strategic priorities.

Our investments in new programs, our new commitments to access and opportunity, and our unwavering defense of academic values position us to emerge stronger. This is Michigan at its best: facing challenges head-on with intellectual rigor and collective purpose.

If you have concerns, ideas, or want to engage on any of these issues, please reach me at [email protected]. Every message is read, and your input matters.

Thank you for your continued dedication to our shared mission.

With appreciation,

Laurie