We are UGE

The t-shirts we give incoming students are emblazoned with “WE ARE LIBERAL ARTS.” It’s proud; it’s unapologetic; it’s in your face. I like it. In the process of trying to create an “annual report” for the Office of Undergraduate Education, I had to come to grips with who were are in UGE, and come to grips with it in such a way that I can explain to outsiders who we are and what we do. It took me seven pages to list our primary areas along with brief explanations what we do in those areas and how many people work in those areas.

This is what I came up with:

• Academic Advising (55 staff, I think, it’s difficult to keep track)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Program (7)
• President’s Emerging Scholars Program (4)
• Individualized Degree Programs (1)
• First Year Experience (3, plus 170 students)
• Student Services (6, plus 10 students)
• Career Services (14, plus 5 students)
• Employer Relations (3)
• Student Affairs
• Curriculum and Academic Programs (1)
• Career Readiness Initiative (2 and growing)
• Learning Abroad Initiative (2)
• Recruitment (2)
• Scholarships (1)
• Awards
• Analytics (1)
• Application Development (3)
• Communications (2, plus 2 students)
• College Events
• Administration (12 including the leadership team, plus 3 students)

The lines with no one listed have the appropriate folks counted in other lines. That’s 119 professionals and nearly 200 students spread across six floors of four buildings.

I have shown these seven pages to a few people outside of UGE, including the new departmental chairs, and the typical reaction was a wide-eyed stare and an OMG. We are big, and we do a lot of different things. But I am finding strength in that diversity and in the collaboration that we practice daily.

You’re all a great team. One of my “I’m thankful fors” over the weekend was that I am thankful that you are my team!