February 1, 2012: Greetings sent to faculty and staff on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am delighted to be rejoining the University of Minnesota community. As your new provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, I will be dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the University's extraordinary traditions of excellence in teaching, research, and public outreach.

This year's compact budgeting process—just getting under way with the academic units—will occupy much of my time at this point in the term. Nonetheless, I hope to visit as many colleges, governance committees, and student groups as I can over the course of my first months here. I want to get to know you better and to reconnect fully with this amazing institution.

We have an exciting range of challenges and opportunities before us. When I was here as an undergraduate student, economic and social realities were very different for public education. In 2012, we face new financial circumstances and vigorous debate about our core missions. We must make the case that public higher education is a fundamental building block of civil society and that our state and the nation cannot prosper without our work. We must also, even in these straitened times, make sure that the University is accessible to all qualified students.

President Kaler and I share with you the goal of taking this great university to a new level of excellence. These are exciting times for the University of Minnesota, and I am grateful to be joining this vibrant university community. I look forward to supporting President Kaler and his team; to supporting the efforts and aspirations of faculty, students, and staff; and to working with you closely in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Karen Hanson,
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost