Hello, PennWest Community!
We have been working together for 100 days now, a noteworthy and opportune moment to express my appreciation for the warmth with which you have welcomed my family and me. We are grateful to be part of the PennWest community.
PennWest is now just over two years old, and the undertaking of integration has provided each of us with a wealth of opportunities to define what a new university with deep roots can be. We have learned and reimagined the depth of resilience of this institution. From my vantage point it is abundantly clear: The Power of PennWest is certainly in its people.
My intent is to write an annual letter to the university community to outline where we have been in the last year and important areas of focus for the coming academic year. Normally this letter will come at the beginning of the fall semester, but this year’s letter is a little delayed as I am still learning and listening across the university and all of western Pennsylvania.
There are many things that we hope to accomplish together this year, including advancing the objectives of our strategic plan, completing a successful Middle States Accreditation Review, and working to increase undergraduate enrollment for the first time in nearly 15 years (combining data from all PennWest campuses as they are currently configured).
To focus our efforts, we’ve identified three overarching objectives for this academic year: 1) Refining a clear vision and value proposition for PennWest, 2) Engaging the neural network in ongoing development of PennWest, and 3) Stabilizing and strengthening PennWest’s systems. Each of these focus areas are described in more detail in the linked report.
We look forward to an engaging 2024-2025 academic year, which is already off to a great start.