TULANE TALK

September 11, 2009

Good Morning:

Tulane University’s strength has always been its people. The greatness of our university is defined by their quality, character and talent. In the years ahead, our ability to continue to realize our dreams and full potential are dependent on us attracting and retaining the best faculty, staff and students possible.

As we pass the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and move into the future, it is now time to reconsider how our senior administrative team has been organized since the storm and make adjustments to better position the university to capitalize on the many opportunities – academically, administratively and financially – that now present themselves. To achieve these goals we must continue to invest in the “people initiative” outlined in our Renewal Plan. This includes investing in our senior leadership team.

This team must be properly staffed and focused on Tulane’s highest institutional priorities and opportunities. At the same time, we must continue to strengthen our management team to ensure that strong leadership exists in all our key areas so we can sustain the university’s growth well into the future.

With this context in mind, I have been discussing changes to our organizational structure with Board members and others, and I am happy to announce the following major organizational changes, effective October 1. Yvette Jones, currently chief operating officer and senior vice president for External Relations, will become executive vice president for University Relations and Development. In this very critical role Yvette will oversee Government Relations; University Communications and Marketing; Alumni Affairs and Development, including all of its related areas; Board Relations and Community Relations.

This change is being made to significantly enhance our fund-raising capability as we begin to lay the foundation for the largest campaign in Tulane history – a more than $1 billion fund-raising initiative. As successful as we have been in the past in fund raising, it is now time to make the kind of investment in our university relations and development areas that will ensure that we are even stronger as we move ahead. It is clear that the benefits to be gained far exceed the investment required. This change will provide the focus and stellar leadership needed to develop a “best in breed” fund-raising function while also enhancing new or existing external partnerships.

Given Yvette’s broad experience, seniority and commitment to the university and excellent record of accomplishment, she is the ideal person to lead these efforts that will have a major impact on the future of Tulane. The change in Yvette’s current responsibilities will also prompt a reassignment of duties among other members of the senior leadership team.

Anne BaÒos, currently vice president and chief of staff, will become vice president for Administrative Services. Anne will continue to oversee the Work Force Management Office, Emergency Response and the child centers. In her new role, she will also assume additional responsibility for Environmental Health and Safety and Campus Services (e.g. dining, vending, university contracts, shuttle services). This organizational change will result in a more efficient grouping of activities so we can realize greater effectiveness in the delivery of important services to our community. These changes will also help to even the workload among other members of the senior leadership team.

Anne is well prepared to assume these additional duties. In the last nine years, her performance as Chief of Staff has been excellent and as a result she has assumed greater responsibilities over time. Anne clearly has the breadth and depth of knowledge required for this new position. As part of Anne’s transition to this new role, I will hire a new chief of staff. These appointments will bring additional changes to the responsibilities of other senior officers. All are important, but not on the same scale of change as the ones outlined above. For a complete picture of the revised organizational structure for each of the senior officers, please go to http://riptide.me/v.

These changes will require incremental investment in people and systems by the university but again these investments will return to the university an amount far in excess of their cost. This will greatly strengthen the university in every way and better position us for future growth and expansion.

Please join me in congratulating and thanking Yvette, Anne and everyone else affected by the reorganization for accepting and assuming these tasks for the benefit of our community.

Have a great weekend,

TULANE TALK

August 28, 2009

Good Morning:

As we mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina tomorrow with remembrances both public and private and events such as Outreach Tulane, which continue to heal our city, I think it is fitting to take stock of the progress we have made in the past four years as a university community.

That progress has been nothing short of miraculous. Besides repairing the campus physically from more than $600 million in damages, we have also made good on our promise to renew our beloved university, raise its academic stature, ensure its financial stability and increase its role in the community.

Undergraduate applications have soared from around 18,000 the year before Katrina to 40,000 this year. Since Katrina, our first-year undergraduate classes are among the most selective and academically qualified in Tulane’s 175-year history. And our retention rate, a critical number for universities that reflects the percentage of first-year students who return to a university to complete their degree, has risen substantially since Katrina and should top 90 percent this academic year.

We are also seeing significant increases in enrollment and academic quality in virtually all of our graduate and professional programs since Katrina. This year brought 177 new medical students to Tulane from an applicant pool of approximately 9,500, which is a 50 percent increase from pre-Katrina. Our School of Law welcomed 282 first-year students, a nearly 16 percent increase from last year.

These post-Katrina classes are also, arguably, the most civically engaged college students in the world with an unparalleled opportunity to rebuild one of our country’s most treasured and historic cities. Their efforts continue to be recognized nationally with numerous awards and honors.

While we can look with pride and gratitude to the accomplishments of the past four years, we can never relax our efforts or lose our focus to achieve ever greater distinction, achievement and purpose as a university community. With that in mind, I present this year’s http goals.

Great progress was made on one of these institutional goals yesterday as the Board of Tulane approved a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the governance of the proposed University Medical Center (this is the official new name). This hospital complex will provide the people of New Orleans state-of-the-art health care and high-paying jobs while laying the foundation for the establishment of a world-class medical research district.

I will discuss this and other institutional goals in various forums this year, including in subsequent Tulane Talks.

Have a great weekend,

TULANE TALK

Good Morning:

I am writing this Special Tulane Talk just to say hello since the regular Tulane Talk is on summer break.

I hope you are enjoying the summer and taking some well-deserved time with your family and friends before we start a new semester. Each summer I review with my colleagues the accomplishments and challenges of the prior year, establish institutional and individual goals for the current year and clear from my desk long neglected items left over from the Spring semester (I apologize for my procrastination).

I am also using this time to catch up on my reading and writing. I am always hesitant to recommend books to anyone but I just finished two delightful works of fiction, which some of you might find enjoyable. The first is The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. The story is set in Japan and it is absolutely charming, poignant and educational, especially for those with an interest in mathematics. The second book is The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. This book won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2008. It is a provocative, insightful and irreverent narrative about life in India from the perspective of someone from the lower level of the caste system.

I also want to thank those of you who, on occasion, recommend books to me. I often follow up on many of these suggestions, including the two mentioned above. Even though early American history and biographies are my primary areas of pleasure reading, there is nothing like a wonderfully written piece of fiction.

Enjoy the remainder of the summer, stay safe and please know how appreciative I am of your commitment to and hard work on behalf of the university and community. I look forward to my meetings with many of you this fall.

TULANE TALK

June 5, 2009

Good Morning:

As many of you know, Larry Ponoroff, who has served as dean at Tulane University’s School of Law since 2001 will become dean of the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law effective July 1. Larry, a friend and colleague, enjoyed great success as dean, including leading the law school through the numerous challenges of Hurricane Katrina. He and his wife Monica were active members of the New Orleans community and will be sorely missed.

While we search for a permanent dean to replace Larry, Stephen M. Griffin, the Rutledge C. Clement Jr. Professor in Constitutional Law and vice dean for Academic Affairs at Tulane School of Law, has agreed to serve as interim dean for an appointment of up to two years.

Steve, who has been a law school faculty member since 1989, brings commitment, breadth of experience and depth of knowledge that will ensure the continued growth of Tulane Law School, which is ranked among the nation’s best.

Before coming to Tulane, Steve served as a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago and a research instructor at New York University. He has published over 30 articles, book chapters, and reviews on topics ranging from Rawls’s theory of justice to the theory of American constitutional interpretation. He is also the author of American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics, which was published by Princeton University Press and the recently published Lexis reader, Constitutional Theory: Arguments and Perspectives.

Renowned for his scholarship and passion as a teacher, Steve has won both the Sumter Marks Award in recognition of his publications and the Felix Frankfurter Distinguished Teaching Award, given by the graduating class. Please join me in welcoming Steve to his new position, the latest in his long service to Tulane University.