September 12 Staff Forum Recap

Hundreds of staff attended a Zoom webinar on September 12 to receive updates from the senior leadership team about a number of initiatives and programs that are launching or continuing in the Fall 2024 semester.

Jamie Montgomery-Hyde (HR) welcomed attendees and gave an overview of the meeting’s agenda. President Bernhardt then offered a welcome and kicked off introductions of the senior leadership team, who in turn welcomed new members of their respective teams.

Alex Socarides (Academic Affairs) arrived at Emerson about three months ago after spending 17 years at the University of Missouri. Matt Boyce (Enrollment Management) was at the University of Puget Sound for four years prior to coming to Emerson about two months ago. Rebekah Carmichael (Communications and Marketing) started at Emerson about six weeks ago after holding positions at Carnegie Mellon and NYU.

Jon Derek Croteau (President’s Office) is not new to Emerson, as he is a proud undergrad alum and also served on the Alumni Board and worked in Institutional Advancement. He started his current role here about two months ago after 20+ years in higher education and higher education consulting. Christie Anglade (Student Affairs) is also not new to Emerson, having been at the College for five years. However, she is now serving in an interim role on the leadership team.

Carolina Avellaneda (General Counsel) held roles at Fisher College and University of Massachusetts before arriving at Emerson about six months ago. Allison Dawson (Institutional Advancement) has been at Emerson for a little over a year, having previously worked at the University of Texas at Austin. Paul Dworkis (Administration and Finance) has been in his position at Emerson for five years after 30+ years in higher education, finance, and publishing. Peggy Ings (Government and Community Relations) wins the award for longest-serving member of the administration for her 29 years of service!

Shaya Gregory Poku (Social Justice Collaborative) has been at the College for two years; she previously held positions at Wheaton College and Northeastern University. Ronee Penoi (Office of the Arts) was a theater producer before joining Emerson three years ago.

Next, President Bernhardt gave a presentation. He provided a financial overview for the College, noting the enrollment decline that the College has experienced, which led to 10 staff positions being cut, the offering of early retirement packages to eligible staff, and delayed capital projects. He shared trends in the College’s enrollment, which include a decrease in applications and an increased admittance rate. Although fewer undergraduates enrolled this year, the College did see an uptick in the number of enrolled graduate students.

Bernhardt laid out his top four priorities, which are explained in his September 16 email to staff: increase enrollment for the upcoming year, strengthen our community, plan for a shared future, and improve our internal communications and build our brand.

After Bernhardt’s presentation, Montgomery-Hyde introduced Sonia Jurado (Office of Equal Opportunity) to speak about a College-wide initiative to inform community members about new Title IX and Title VI requirements. Managers will decide on the most optimal way for their staff to participate in a two-hour in-person training.

Socarides presented on three of the College’s new academic priorities, which were shared at a recent Faculty Institute. Her team will work on providing more support to faculty. To that end, a new initiative called the Emerson Research Hub has launched, which will pull together all of the research labs and programs in order to elevate research at Emerson. Second, a task force will create a detailed roadmap for a new academic infrastructure. Third, her team will look at how to improve students’ career development and outcomes. Stronger coordination for online programs will be one area of focus.

Next, Anglade gave a brief EmersonTogether update. More than 30 faculty and staff are on three different teams (content, capacity-building, and coordination) that will work on the initiative, and students will soon be added to the teams as well. The first event, a campus conversation, was held on September 6 in the Bordy Theater and more than 100 community members were in attendance.

Croteau then shared an update on the College’s strategic planning process. The College is currently in Phase 3 of 6. Focus groups are in the process of being held, and a community-wide survey will be released at the end of September. Recurring themes will be analyzed and shared in Phases 4–6. Three working groups are tasked with constituent engagement, reviewing prior strategic plans and initiatives to inform the College’s future, and analyzing the external market to discover how the College can adapt and evolve with market trends.

Croteau said that a draft of the strategic plan should be available in December, and execution of the plan should begin in the spring semester. Staff are encouraged to submit their comments and ideas via an anonymous online feedback form.

Gregory Poku provided an update on the Emerson360 survey that was administered in November 2023. She confirmed that the data collected is still relevant to the community and will be published online later this month. Interactive sessions for the discussion of survey results are slated to be held in October.

Montgomery-Hyde wrapped up the staff forum by moderating a Q&A, during which the senior leadership team answered questions that had been submitted prior to the event, as well as some that were posed in real time. The next staff forum will be held later this fall.

Nancy Howell (Communications and Marketing)