A Year in Review

As 2021 draws to a close, I’m reflecting on all the people who made this a great year amid the challenges we faced. Our faculty, staff, administrators, and students continued to demonstrate incredible adaptability, innovation, creativity, and resilience as the pandemic forced us to keep adjusting our normal routines. We’ve all learned a great deal about just how much we’re really capable of, and how flexible we can be.

We are most proud of our campuses and their hard work to increase low-income graduates and graduates of color despite countless challenges. Personally, I am so thankful for the UIA liaisons, fellows, and central team who have supported our work remotely without losing any focus or passion. In the new year, we are most looking forward to gathering safely together in person for the first time in years. Normalizing stringent protocols to keep everyone safe will enable us to gather together for ideation, collaboration, and community.

Before we get started with 2022, I hope you carve out as much rest as possible in the coming weeks. We need you to come back strong and focused in the new year, and the only way you’ll be able to do that is if you let your brain recover from being a human in 2021.

Lastly, we were thrilled to find out that "What 11 Colleges Leading the Student-Success Movement Have Learned" made the list of top articles featured in The Chronicle’s newsletter, The Edge in 2021. Below is a compilation of the things we shared this past year that were the most loved in 2021.

Thank you for being part of our community this past year. We value your passion for students, and we are honored to share our inspiration and learning with you! Happy holidays!

December 16, 2021