It’s Spring!
April 5, 2022
Dear Colleagues,
It is indeed Spring and we are in our busiest time of year as we race our way to finals and commencement. Believe it or not, last week I celebrated three full years and the start of my fourth year as President of Georgia Southern University. Though together we have certainly faced challenges as an institution, I am more heartened and grateful than ever to be your President, your colleague, during these transformational years. You – our faculty, staff, students, and community — continue to be the inspiration and purpose as we persevere, adapt, and grow individually and institutionally together. We are collectively better because of how we navigated our way through these challenges – stronger and ever more focused on our primary goal of student success.
Over the next several weeks, we will continue our journey of growth and improvement by sharing the results of our second annual Employee Engagement Survey. The Employee Engagement Survey results will be presented to campus this Thursday, April 7, at 3 p.m. (a zoom link will be provided the morning of April 7 to campus). The presentation will be recorded and posted. On Monday, April 11, divisional and unit reports will be provided as we begin our roll out and action plan updates and development. In addition, the comments will be posted in the MyGS Portal beginning next week.
I want to thank our faculty and staff for their engagement in this voluntary survey as we reached a participation rate of more than 65%. That’s an amazing participation rate and will provide us with comprehensive data and information to grow ourselves to grow others.
The General Assembly closed out the 2022 legislative session yesterday, and we are thrilled to report that the cost of living adjustment (COLA) salary increase of $5,000 will become permanent effective July 1, 2022 for all eligible faculty and staff. More information will be coming from HR in the next few weeks. In addition, we received funding for the Science Lab renovations on the Armstrong Campus. The approved FY23 budget also included formula growth funding for the USG and replacement funding of the COVID-19 austerity reductions to fund the elimination of the Special Institutional Fee (SIP) effective fall 2022. Over the next few weeks, the Board of Regents will provide our specific institutional budget information and, as always, we will provide transparent budget reporting to all campus constituents. We continue to be grateful for the support of the Governor, our local delegation, and the Board of Regents.
It is also time for us to show our gratitude and thanks to our outstanding faculty, staff and teams at our upcoming University Awards of Excellence Ceremony. The ceremony will be in person April 15, at 10:00 a.m., at the Armstrong Campus in the Fine Arts Auditorium. The event will be recorded and posted for you to view at your convenience (a link will be provided in the coming week). This year, we had more than 115 individual nominations and multiple team nominations. You received an email yesterday announcing 15 individual awards and 1 team award aligned with our institutional values and pillars of our university strategic plan. In addition, we will honor over 400 faculty and staff for years of service ranging from 5 to 45 years – well over 4,000 years of service in totality. Thank you for your service and dedication to Georgia Southern University!
At Georgia Southern we have much to be thankful for…we are part of an institution that transforms lives and serves communities. While we manage this busy time of continuous learning, growing, and improving…I invite you to take a moment and think of all that you are grateful for – family, friends, and colleagues who believe, like you, in the transformational power of education.
Sincerely,
Kyle
Last updated: 4/6/2022