November 20, 2019
To the Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:
During my first year as provost and chief academic officer of Carnegie Mellon University, I can’t help but reflect on my personal journey as a Tartan. Over the last four decades, I have had the honor to serve the university in many roles. With each, I have found myself being challenged and often out of my comfort zone, learning extensively along the way and enjoying the experience to its fullest. To me, this is quintessential CMU. We are a community where connection, joy and pride go hand in hand with the dedication and creativity that result in our groundbreaking innovations, real world problem-solving and quirky fun.
I recognize that when our hearts are deep in the work, we must be sure we have support from an engaged and caring campus community. Today, I am proud to see a greater focus on encouragement for one another, investments in student success, and overall improvements for a better experience for our community members. We have come so far in the past few decades, since my days as a student and young member of the faculty, and yet I know we can make even more progress.
The culture of our university has significant impact on the lives of our community members. To help our community thrive, we must continue to build a supportive campus culture. In 2016, CMU embarked on a university-wide initiative to explore how our community experiences the culture of the university, to assess what makes us great and to innovate, shift and improve how CMU can enable everyone to achieve their full potential.
What follows is the final report of the Task Force on the CMU Experience charged by President Jahanian (then Provost) to undertake this ambitious work. Over the course of three years, more than 200 individuals actively contributed to this. community effort. I am deeply grateful for the work of this passionate team who put their hearts in the work of enhancing the CMU experience. I especially want to thank Dr. Laurie R. Weingart for her leadership of the Task Force as Interim Provost, and Vice President and Dean of Students Gina Casalegno, Dr. Marlene Berhmann and Dr. Diana Marculescu for their leadership as vice-chairs. Finally, I also wish to mention the dedication of Sarah College, Special Projects Manager in the Provost’s Office, who provided the staff support that has made all of our work possible.
As a result of these efforts, the focus on the CMU experience is ready to evolve into something new. As you will see, the Task Force has articulated a plan to continue this work at all levels of the institution and has outlined stewardship commitments for the future—an ongoing and permanent effort by the university to build an extraordinary place where everyone is proud to be a Tartan and has an amazing and supportive journey while at CMU.
Regards, James H. Garrett Jr.
Provost
Thomas Lord Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering