August 8, 2024
Campus colleagues,
One hundred and eighty days ago I got the call from Search Committee Chairman Tom Kendris inviting me to join the Wagner College community as president. Throughout my transition period and my official start as president on July 1, I have been welcomed and initiated by so many of you.
From students, faculty and staff, parents, alumni, vendors, partners and civic leaders, including the borough president, I have learned about our collective hopes and expectations — and our fears and worries. I have seen the very best of what this college has to offer and I have seen the strains of a stretched community. This is especially true in our systems and processes as well as how we communicate with each other and across the campus community.
During this very same period we have seen nationally the impacts of the declining U.S. population of college-age students; the political discourse; and the disenfranchisement of higher education led by the daily bombardment of questions and stories that is driving more and more of society to believe that a college degree is no longer accessible, affordable or even worth it.
Colleges and universities throughout the country are struggling to find relevance and financial sustainability. We, too, face these headwinds.
However, where other institutions see nothing but endless hurdles, I see opportunity for institutions that are willing to be honest with themselves about where they need to rethink their approach; responsive to what students and society are seeking; innovative in their approach to enhance how they deliver on their mission; and bold enough to seize this moment and make difficult decisions, and thus distinguish themselves from so many institutions that are reeling.
I believe Wagner can be that institution. And over the next several months, we will prove this belief is well-founded.
We are going to come together and build a strategic vision that will be as ambitious as it will be necessary. To achieve that, we will have difficult but honest discussions about who we are; what works and what does not; what will be our vision of the future; and what will be the best investments we can make to achieve our vision. This process will be as exhilarating as it will be, at times, taxing. In the end Wagner College will be a stronger institution.
Experience tells me that we must be mindful of four things if we want such a process to be successful.
- First, we must be clear that we come to such a process hyper-focused on a common purpose and not individual agendas.
- Second, we must find ways to work together — and this requires listening and prioritizing communicating to our community — not just those with whom we work most closely.
- Third, we must have good data and we must have trusted expertise to help us interpret it.
- And fourth, we must ensure that our discussions and deliberations are engaged fairly, with appreciation that as part of our inquiry and debate, we will have an impact on our colleagues.
Working toward a common purpose, we must keep the focus on what will ensure Wagner as a whole thrives. As dedicated professionals and career-long educators and practitioners we are passionate about our individual pursuits, as well as those of our colleagues and our departments. The College will not be well served if we each treat our contribution to the whole as the whole itself. I have faith that when we work together, we will keep focused on the common purpose of Wagner.
On the second point, I want to note that I have established four working groups. Each group — Academic Affairs, Student Experience, External Relations, and Enrollment — has representatives from various areas across campus coming together to start to challenge how we see ourselves, what data do we need to create and review, and how we need to chart a course of action in our operations and our strategic planning. To make these and additional working groups effective, and to make any additional campus-wide planning possible, we must have a leadership structure that best enhances the effort.
On the third point, we are beginning to dive into our abilities to generate usable data, and we will need to expand our capacity in this regard. Additionally, I will prioritize resources to bring expertise to our strategic planning, space planning, and master planning, and industry expertise in operational innovation as well as program and initiative development.
And on the fourth point, I believe that we are up to the challenge of being collegial even as we push ourselves. As we do so, I am actively strengthening our organization to ensure that our stakeholder groups are well informed and well supported as we chart a new course.
To this end I am announcing several changes that align our leadership to the dual goals of working together on the difficult task of planning, and ensuring that our planning efforts do not needlessly impact our stakeholders' experiences.
Leadership Changes
Jazzmine Clarke-Glover has become my Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees. Jazzmine will continue to oversee Human Resources and will therefore continue to play a critical role in ensuring our campus culture is continuously enhanced, and our employees are supported.
Tarshia Stanley, who has served as Provost since 2022, is now Professor and Special Assistant to the President for academic affairs, and will advise me on academic planning and strategy. Tarshia has also been invited to serve as a Senior Fellow at Higher Education Resource Services (HERS), an organization dedicated to building up women and gender-diverse leaders in higher education.
Provost: As we begin the effort of working together, challenging ourselves to explore new and exciting opportunities to ensure Wagner’s long-term success, I have decided that we will not immediately fill the Provost position. Instead, I will assume many of the provostial responsibilities — most notably planning and development, and the coordination of academic affairs. I will lean heavily on our academic leadership and our newly created collaborative meeting structure to ensure academics remain at the forefront of our planning.
Desiree Braithwaite ’14 M’19 will be my Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Presidential Initiatives. It is critical to us all that we are leveraging our resources and ensuring that we are getting the most out of every expenditure. Desiree will coordinate the use of institutional assets and represent me in discussions on campus ranging from capital and technology investments to event planning to daily operations. A 25-year Wagner employee, she has most recently been Director of Campus Logistics.
Deputy Chief of Staff for Student Support is a new position that will report to the President’s Office and will serve as the primary point of contact for students and their parents as they have questions, face difficulties, or need assistance navigating our bureaucracy. More news about this position will be announced shortly.
Kaitlin Girton ’08 has been named Vice President for Institutional Advancement and will be responsible for ensuring that our alumni, our donors and many of our external partners are engaged and we are communicating to them about our efforts and ways they can support our work. Joining the development department in 2012, Kaitlin has held a variety of positions in advancement and alumni relations, most recently serving as chief alumni and development officer.
David Martin is now my Senior Advisor. In addition to maintaining a fundraising and external relations portfolio, Dave will play a critical role planning and coordinating a portfolio of external and legal projects that I believe will position Wagner for future growth. A Wagner employee since 2003, he has most recently been serving as Director of Planned Giving.
Ruta Shah-Gordon, who currently serves as Vice President for Enrollment and Student Life, will further coordinate our overall campus life and student experience areas by expanding her portfolio to include Career Development and Academic Accessibility. By adding these to the student life division, Ruta will build a more holistic approach to co-curricular offerings for our students.
Felicia Ruff is the new Chair of the Division of Performing and Visual Arts. A 23-year Professor of Theatre at the College, she served for many years as Chair of Performing Arts as well as several years as Chair of the College's Academic Policy Committee. Devoted to the values that the arts cultivate, she has always centered her passion in teaching and nurturing student success.
I would like to thank each of these leaders for their willingness to take on new challenges, new opportunities, and frankly, more work. I would also like to point out that with their willingness to take on these roles, we have made significant changes to our leadership while adding no additional employees to the College.
In the coming weeks we will note other changes on the campus as we begin to consolidate areas and ensure we are cross-collaborating and serving our students, employees, alumni, donors and partners better.
I am excited to begin the collaborative work of ensuring Wagner’s long-term success. I know that together we will be successful.
Best,
Jeff