Speakers at Convocation welcomed new students and returning faculty members with similar messages of hope during the traditional start of the academic year.
President Thomas J. Haas told students in the audience that they have chosen a great place for their education. “Let us learn together and set a course of action,” he said during his speech in the Fieldhouse on August 28. “Let us dream together and plan for even more.”
His remarks at Convocation followed an opening address earlier in the day to about 400 faculty and staff members. During that speech, held in the Louis Armstrong Theatre, Haas updated university goals and looked ahead to Grand Valley’s strategic plan.
He asked faculty and staff members to continue to be accountable to the campus community, including students and their parents, friends and donors, alumni and other stakeholders.
“Our students are why we are here,” Haas said. “They make choices. Without them we do not exist. We must always fulfill our promises to them as well as those in our community and state who invest in their future.”
Haas said because of decreasing state funds and increases for financial aid, it’s important to establish the university’s priorities. He provided a preview of the university’s strategic plan for 2015 and hoped to follow up with more details as the fall semester progresses.
“We need to continue to plan ahead and continue to be relevant and provide services to our students that will give them the chance to succeed,” Haas said.
At the start of his fourth year at Grand Valley, Haas said the state’s economic outlook may have changed but the university’s values have stayed consistent. “In the past three years our mission has guided our actions and our decisions — all of which are built on the values of Grand Valley State University, and that can be stated in following three watchwords: relevance, stewardship and service,” he said.
He said his top priorities remain to secure funding for construction of the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons and to remind state legislators of their “responsibility to invest in this state.”
“Public education is integral to our state in terms of talent. It’s integral to a vibrant and robust economy,” Haas said. “I challenge our legislators by reminding them that they have a moral obligation to nurture that asset.”
He also provided details of the new Student Support Fund and asked faculty and staff members to consider contributing to this fund. Details are available on both the Financial Aid and University Development Web sites.
During Convocation, Kristine Mullendore, chair of the University Academic Senate, told new students she already knew a bit about them.
“I know you have achieved a great deal of success in just getting here today,” Mullendore said. “I hope you come here hopeful for your future.”
Autumn Trombka, Student Senate president, advised her new peers not to be afraid to meet people and ask questions, or visit faculty members during their office hours. “You’ve come to a university where the professors love to teach,” she said. “We’re fortunate to have leaders at a university who are so student-focused.”
Downloads: The text of President Haas' faculty and staff remarks is available here.
