Inaugural Blog!

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit the Faculty Fellow Blog. My hope is that this will serve as an informal way to keep everyone updated on what this fellowship is all about! I will likely be posting a new blog every month or so.

For those that don’t know, I am only the second Faculty Fellow. President Davidson came up with this idea in 2020 as a mechanism to bridge the communication gap between upper-administration and faculty as well as serving as leadership development for the faculty involved. Dr. Sam Jay served as the first Faculty Fellow in 2021 and is now working as the Director of Faculty Affairs.

I’ve always had aspirations to work my way into administration, so I saw this as a perfect opportunity to “test drive” what it’s like to be in administration. And frankly, who doesn’t want to know what the President of MSU Denver does on the daily?? I’m creating this website and blog to give a transparent and honest look into what I’m doing, learning, and hearing while working in this office.

First, I want everyone to get a sense of how I work and what my personality is like. While I can certainly be vocal and critical, I also pride myself in being someone that tries to understand both sides of the aisle, which can sometimes come off as oddly overly accommodating. I’m not approaching this Fellowship with my defenses up and ready to argue with everyone if they don’t see things my way. But rather, I want to absorb what I see around me, reflect, and speak up. At the same time, it feels like my singular voice needs to be representative of all faculty which has given me more anxiety in the last four months than I’d like to admit.

I want to make sure the opinions I voice at senior leadership meetings is as representative as possible. How am I going to do this? I’m going to be holding Faculty Fellow Office Hours once every two weeks. (Get it? It’s a play on office hours? Because we’re faculty? It’s cute, right?! I thought so!) This is a space where faculty can come chat with me about concerns or questions I should be aware of as I sit in on these senior leadership conversations. Like I said, I want my voice to be as informed as possible, and I think this will be a good way of gaining institutional knowledge. Office hours will be held in JSSB 440T every other Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Teams link) starting on May 12.

Finally, (because this is getting entirely too long, thanks if you’ve read this far!) what have I done in the past four months?

• I sit in on all Senior Leadership meetings and some one-on-one meetings with the President and Vice Presidents. From the first day, I’ve been welcomed (and expected) to provide my opinion in all of these meetings.
• Attend most of the board meetings: Board of Trustees, Foundation Board, Community Cabinet, and President’s Cabinet.
• Plan events! With on-campus engagement and events ramping up, I’ve been tasked with being the lead on a few events so far:
  • Presidential Speaker Series featuring Fiona Hill, Ph. D.
  • Presidential Pop-Up Panel: Ukraine
  • Presidential Fireside Chat with Mayor Michael B. Hancock
  • and more!
• Built this website to enhance visibility of this fellowship
• I am currently working with the bookstore to make its presence in the Tivoli the best it can be!
• And finally, I have my own “pet projects” to enhance the transparency of what senior administration do on the daily, how information is distilled down to the faculty level, and faculty equity.