Change. There’s no word that has come up in conversation more frequently in my first four-plus months at Mendoza. We have been through a lot of change and that’s led to some understandable change fatigue. The pandemic made this harder. And now we work in a world that is learning to live with the virus and its lasting social, economic and community health implications.
It would be disingenuous to suggest we are done changing. We have not yet reached our goals. It may be helpful to consider the growth and evolution of the College in terms of our role in the change:
- How can we make change less difficult or disruptive for others?
- How can we influence the change process and its outcomes?
Overall, our approach to change should advance our mission in the least difficult way by being:
- Proactive, by doing the work to envision our future and make changes that overcome challenges that lay ahead. Reactive change is harder and more stressful.
- Productive, by building an organization and delivering programs that Grow the Good in Business through our faculty, staff and students.
- Planned, by outlining our 5-year strategy for the College, including the changes we need to make to achieve our ambitious goals.
- Participatory, by involving and inviting others to contribute time, feedback and ideas, especially those impacted by the change.
Your voice is critical to shaping the future of the College and we want you to be informed, involved and inspired by the changes ahead. As you think about how you can influence what and how we change, here are a few considerations inspired by Dean Cremers:
- Understand the OKRs of the College and how they translate into the objectives for your department/function and your team.
- Discuss the impact of College priorities on your work with your supervisor and others you collaborate with.
- Seek clarity where you don’t have understanding, question changes that lack explanation and challenge ideas that don’t make sense. Please speak up!
As the calendar year comes to a close, I want to provide several updates:
- Strategic Planning: The planning committee is holding a kickoff meeting this week. After the break, you will receive a survey to complete that will help inform the committee’s important work. Please take 10-15 minutes to respond with your thoughts.
- Finance & Facilities: In November, the Finance & Facilities team joined my team and we’re excited to more fully integrate them into the fold.
- MBA Move to Stayer: Also in November, we assembled a steering committee to direct the various efforts involved in making the Stayer Center the new home of the MBA Program. There are three working groups focused on facilities renovations (see below), office space and classroom/event space scheduling.
Changes, especially those in our facilities, bring with them some amount of disruption. I just want to thank all of you in advance for your patience and understanding as we make our physical environment match our first-class educational environment. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out directly to me (rkelly1@nd.edu or 1x0979) with any questions or concerns regarding anything I’ve mentioned here.
Have a blessed remainder of the Advent season and a very Merry Christmas!
Gratefully,
Rob Kelly
Senior Director of Operations
Office of the Dean
Office of the Dean