July 30th, 2019
Dear Colleagues,
I hope that you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying this beautiful weather. I always love campus in the summer although this one has not been quiet. I am excited to be working with Fr. O’Brien, who started his presidency in July. He has met with his leadership team and begun to address the priorities he talked about in his video message on July 1. Together, Fr. O’Brien and I plan to make a Santa Clara education more affordable and accessible to qualified students and to help faculty and staff members to thrive in such an expensive region. We will take advantage of our unique location, expanding connections with Silicon Valley and neighboring communities. We will make progress on the $1 billion campaign, focusing more in the coming year on financial aid for our amazing students (including our LEAD and Johnson scholars) and support for our accomplished, dedicated faculty members.
In particular, I am excited about using my conflict resolution background – as a scholar and teacher – to help drive Fr. O’Brien’s priority of improving our culture with deeper trust and mutual respect, healing some of the rifts within our Santa Clara community while making progress on our shared goals and values. I want to listen deeply and respectfully to understand faculty needs for support in research, teaching, and their work with our students. I want to understand staff concerns as well. Fr. O’Brien and I are committed to being as transparent and accountable as possible, being clear in our communication, sharing decisions and the reasons for them. Where appropriate, I prefer making decisions with collaboration.
I am grateful that Fr. O’Brien understands the centrality of our academic mission and highlights it with many constituents. He is giving me support as I work with the Deans, Center Directors, faculty and staff members to continue our academic momentum. I spoke with the Faculty Senate in May, the Staff Senate in June and began serving on the University Coordinating Committee (the heart of our shared governance system). I look forward to working in close collaboration with the UCC in the next year.
This summer, my Office is setting up an Oversight & Accountability Committee, as recommended by the UCC, to monitor gifts to the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. In addition, several groups will review the University’s Gift Acceptance Policy this academic year. Fr. O’Brien and I are also examining ways to engage faculty and staff more deeply with the work of the Board of Trustees where appropriate in order to expand two-way communication.
In this fun whirlwind of a summer, I’ve enjoyed expanding my knowledge about Santa Clara, reading and hearing about the breadth of our programs from the undergraduate CORE curriculum to the graduate programs across all of our academic units. From speaking at Orientation sessions for new students and their families to leading two Commencement ceremonies, I have been proud to brag about our accomplishments and engaged community.
My education has also been hands-on: I toured the STEM laboratories and saw faculty and lab managers inspiring, encouraging and working with students. I attended a Community Initiatives for the Visual Arts exhibit with wonderful art by local first generation Cristo Rey and Downtown College Prep high school students (guided by our faculty members in Art and Art History) plus an amazing Latin jazz concert sponsored by our Center for Arts and Humanities in partnership with Filoli Gardens. I am learning about our academic work by attending retreats, orientation sessions and convocations. And I’m trying to remember to say “quarters” more often than “semesters”!
I am incredibly impressed by the talent and dedication of our faculty and staff members. I want to thank you for all that you do for our students, your colleagues and the broader world we serve. I hope that each of you gets some time for rest and renewal this summer, which is so important to keep us functioning at our highest levels.
After the Law School Commencement in May, my husband and I took our longest trip together since our children were born to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We explored five Eastern European countries we had never visited previously, relaxed and found that we could really enjoy each other’s company -- with no kids, no parents and no email!
Enjoy the rest of the summer and I look forward to seeing you in the Fall.
Lisa