Welcome to the Office of the Provost website.

Last November following some discussion in Faculty Senate, I called two town hall meetings to discuss the changing environment we, and especially our students, are facing as a result of the current economic crisis. Those meetings resulted in a number of general ideas for our future operations, including some that have implications for our student services and support, academic curriculum, and allocation of human and financial resources. (Notes from those meetings will soon be posted on a Provost's site on Blackboard as will information on registration for that site.)

Now that our winter semester is well underway, it is time to resume and deepen those conversations. Below is the schedule for sessions on three different topics for faculty and staff in the next two months. Each session will be held twice, once in Allendale and once in Grand Rapids, so I hope many of you will find one session on each topic that will fit your schedule and location. In any case, I will compile and disseminate the thoughts that are engendered and encourage further discussion within the Division and on the BlackBoard site long after the upcoming meetings are over.

I hope by putting our heads together in these meetings and on the BlackBoard site, we will identify new ideas for how we can effectively and efficiently offer our students the support, curriculum and credentials that are most likely to serve them well in the wildly changing world they are facing. Please join us in whatever way you can.