Reflections on the Start of a New Academic Year
A Message from Dr. Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dear students, faculty, and staff,
Welcome to the start of the fall semester! It has been a pleasure meeting our newest faculty, students, and their families on campus over the past week, and I look forward to learning even more about what drew you to The New School, how your classes will inspire and energize your research, scholarship, and creative practice, and what you hope to accomplish during your time here. I especially want to thank all of our staff and faculty for the incredible work you’ve done over the summer to prepare and set the tone for a successful academic year.
Each fall, I like to begin by publicly sharing my goals as Provost for the year ahead in the spirit of accountability and transparency. These priorities continue to be shaped and informed by the conversations I have with students, faculty, and staff, and reflect what I’ve learned from open office hours I’ve held throughout the year, our strategic planning process, and forums with shared governance bodies across the university.
Last year, my priorities included: 1) making meaningful progress on our university-wide strategic planning process; 2) engaging more intentionally with our community through open dialogue and increased consultation; 3) creating new pathways to better support and celebrate your work, while also finding ways to improve our structures, policies, and procedures.
My primary goals for this year build on these priorities and include: 1) grounding the work of academic affairs in restorative practices of equity, inclusion, and social justice; 2) leading with accountability and care; 3) centering our students and developing new and improved ways of offering support and guidance; 4) establishing The New School as a civically-engaged anchor institution; and 5) embedding our strategic plan in every facet of university life.
Earlier this month, President Towers asked us how we will respond to protests, critique, and dissent as the material conditions of our world have not changed since we experienced protests, encampments, and fractures within our community last semester. As we continue to navigate personal, professional, and moral obligations in a deeply divisive geopolitical landscape, I’d like to share with you what I told families at Orientation. We want our students to be stewards in three ways: stewards of land, stewards of people, and stewards of community. This applies to every individual that works, teaches, and learns at The New School. As lifelong learners, we have a responsible commitment to one another, and the university commons is our shared project.
At The New School, we believe that diverse perspectives enrich our learning environment and that each of us contributes to creating a culture of care, equity, and belonging. I recognize that this can be difficult and uncomfortable work as we have frank conversations about who we say we are as an institution, who we aspire to be, and who we actually are in practice. The Provost’s Office has been working since the fall semester to continue addressing gaps and building capacity to equip our students, faculty, and staff with the tools, resources, and training opportunities you need to be an empowered steward and leader. In recent months, we have gathered insights from faculty and staff who attended workshops on de-escalation, antisemitism, and Islamophobia in June, reviewed our policies and procedures to ensure they reflect our values, and launched the 2024-2025 Provost’s Faculty Fellows, a new initiative designed to leverage and ensure faculty expertise is embedded in our planning across academic affairs.
The Provost’s Office continues to work on developing more opportunities to bring our community together in open dialogue on issues of equity, inclusion, and social justice in higher education. More opportunities to learn from and engage with one another will be shared throughout the year. And later this semester, I look forward to sharing details about the Provost’s Investment Fund, an expansion of the EISJ Praxis Fund, which will offer opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to apply for funding that will support community-building initiatives, augment public programs that highlight work across our colleges and departments, and continue to fund the critical work of building capacity in EISJ Praxis.
I believe we will only be able to experience real progress on these goals with your involvement, input, and ideas. I invite you to connect with the Provost’s Office and let us know how you are doing this semester. We would love to hear what you are looking forward to most this year in your work, studies, and scholarship at The New School and how we can support your academic journey here. You are always welcome to reach out to us at provost@newschool.edu with questions, thoughts, and feedback.
Visit the Provost’s Office Events Hub to learn more about our initiatives and engagement opportunities. In addition to the events the Provost’s Office hosts throughout the year, I welcome opportunities to join you at your meetings and events on campus. Visit the Provost Engagement Request Form to invite me to an upcoming symposium, conversation, or reception.
I look forward to hearing from you and wish you all a wonderful start to the semester.