"BUILDING MOMENTUM": CHANCELLOR'S REPORT 2009-2010

The goal of this annual report was to communicate the palpable energy being felt at UMass Boston today. We wanted to send a strong message of growing leadership in many areas to external constituencies, including donors, funders, and prospective collaborators.

We decided to use profiles and vignettes to highlight achievements. I started with the attributes that best define the university, then built the content outline with stories emblematic of this attributes: noteworthy programs, departments, projects, and faculty and student accomplishments. I made the stories personal—not institutional—by telling them through the perspectives and voices of the dozens of people I interviewed.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES/PRESIDENT'S RESOURCE MATERIALS

• Created the foundation document that became UMass Boston’s orientation for new University of Massachusetts trustees, 2010-2011.
• Wrote institutional overviews and case statements for the trustees’ 2009 Budget Oversight Task Force.
• Collaborated on a transition document for the new University of Massachusetts president, Robert L. Caret.
• Wrote and edited quarterly and annual reports from the chancellor to the University of Massachusetts president and Board of Trustees.

DIGESTS OF INTERNAL ANNUAL REPORTS

• Created a 35-page compendium of 2008-2009 internal annual reports by senior administrators, deans, and directors.
• Developed a comprehensive digest of 2009-2010 university activity, aligned with institutional messaging. This is intended to serve as a template for future academic activity compilations, and a guideline for activity reporting.

INSTITUTIONAL PROFILES

• Search committee materials: Compiled and wrote profiles of the institution and the chancellor, given to candidates in the 2008 provost search.
• Accreditation review documents: Created templates and provided writing/editing support.

RESEARCH FACULTY PROFILES

The communications head of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs asked me to contribute three faculty profiles to a special graduate studies edition of its RISC Quarterly publication. The profiles highlight three faculty scholars who have actively mentored graduate students and made outstanding contributions to their fields of study: Jacqueline Fawcett (nursing), Francis Caro (gerontology), and Joan Liem (psychology). The publication is currently in production.

UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT

Commencement program collateral I have written since 2009 includes profiles of each year's honorary degree recipients.