Being a part of the change that is here and that which is coming

Dear Cal Lutheran Community,
 
With seven days left in the month of September, we are several weeks into the Fall semester. I hope that most of you are getting into the groove with the routines and rhythms that mark this collegiate year, even if this year is different than other ones. As we chart our path towards mid-terms, I will use today’s note to focus on two structural change areas that are front and center to this term’s work. The first is our identity as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI); the second is the upcoming strategic and master planning process. 
 
As many of you know, Cal Lutheran was officially recognized by the federal government for being an HSI institution just five years ago: in 2016. By academic standards, this is a relatively new structural change. Our official designation as an HSI came three years after we had reached the minimal threshold (in 2013) of enrolling a student body that is at least 25% Latinx. Since our designation, we have been awarded more than $11 million in federal HSI Title III and Title V grants, which help us support our students in programs such as ALLIES in STEM, Project CHESS, and EDUCAL.
 
Our HSI status is a special one, especially since Cal Lutheran is one of only two ELCA HSIs in the entire country. Given this status, it is important that we acknowledge and celebrate LatinX Heritage Month that started last week. I look forward to seeing you at one of the programs sponsored as part of the month’s activities.
 
Another structural change that we are concentrating on right now is related to the development of university’s next strategic and master plan. The strategic plan will identify the handful of top priorities around which we will concentrate a considerable amount of time, attention, and resources over the next four or five years. The master plan will help us pinpoint the spaces, places, thoroughfares, perimeters, and entrances of the campus that we need to enhance and highlight over the next decade or so. It will also tell us which new buildings we ought to consider constructing; which ones we ought to renovate; and which areas, if any, we ought to take “off line.” 
 
To guide our work, we are partnering with the national consulting firm, Credo. They are experts in both the strategic and master planning space. Credo will be with us in November to conduct a kickoff for our planning process. All faculty and staff are invited to participate in this highly inclusive planning workshop. We are eager to hear and collect your ideas and thoughts about the university’s strengths and the areas of promise and potential that we should leverage going forward. A save the date will be forthcoming once the details are confirmed. Please know that we will keep you informed of all strategic planning opportunities and updates as they emerge.
 
I know we have all been through a lot of change over the last eighteen months, and what we learned is that change is now an irrefutable part of the new normal. Hence, change is going to (continue to) happen here at Cal Lutheran. I genuinely hope that as many of you as possible will help to shape the change that will come to fruition in the foreseeable future. 

Lori E. Varlotta, Ph.D.
President