President’s Perspective (Faculty & Staff)

September 2, 2022

Welcome to fall semester; let’s reach out and connect
with each other

Welcome to fall semester at Oakland University. I hope you’ve
had an enjoyable summer, and are as excited as I am for the
upcoming academic year.

As we begin a new semester, it’s a timely occasion to
appreciate our connectedness to each other, and reaffirm our
shared goal of making Oakland University a great institution
of higher learning and a model campus for diversity, equity
and inclusion.

Together, we have navigated the winding road of the
pandemic. And now, we look toward the promising future and
doing all we can to support the aspirations and success of our
students, faculty and staff.

Like other universities, we are coming to terms with the
consequences of an unexpected public health crisis, and the
profound changes recasting the higher education landscape.
These factors include a decline in enrollment, unpredictable
long-term levels of state funding, a lack of diversified revenue
sources, and a budget shortfall.

As a result of these forces, we must “right-size the budget”
and position Oakland University for sustainable, strategic
growth. That process is underway, and we will keep the
community abreast of developments.

Concurrent to considering expenditure reductions and “right
sizing,” the university leadership team continues to pursue
timely revenue generating initiatives and other means of
support, including seeking to increase donations, building
partnerships and attracting grants.

We’ve been through a lot together. Among the many lessons
of the past two-and-a-half years is that we are strongest as a
community when we collaborate and stand together. On
Tuesday, September 13, please join us at the Oakland Center
for what we hope will be an annual tradition, our “OU Forward:
Welcome” event. (Details will be posted on the OU home
page.)

In the next month, I look forward to, once again, being a
familiar face on campus, and getting to know as many of you
as possible.

Go Grizzlies!

Ora