Addressing Student Concerns
A message from Dr. Renée T. White, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs; and Dr. Robert D. Mack, Vice Provost for Student Success and Engagement
Dear Students,
As you prepare for the end to the semester and the winter break, we wanted to let you know that the difficulties students have faced this fall are recognized by the university’s leadership. We know you are looking for stability and support to complete the semester and encourage you to utilize the available resources that the university provides. Please be assured that these issues are a top priority that we will continue to work on throughout the break and into the new year.
We know we cannot undo the disruption to your courses and learning goals but we are committed to identifying future remedies to address unresolved and diverse concerns. We will identify and support ways in which students can have ownership in this process and outcomes. We will work closely with the Executive Deans to discuss opportunities for students to provide important input into a college-centric approach to developing remedies. We will work with the Student Disability Services (SDS) Office regarding accommodations and services, to give careful consideration to the heightened impact on vulnerable communities. We will continue to engage with the University Student Senate, as the elected representative body, while considering recommendations from other sources.
We will continue to connect with graduating students to discuss additional support as you transition to graduate studies or start the next stages of your careers. The Office of Student Success and Engagement will provide updates and share resources with students graduating this December.
This work will take time, and we ask for both your patience and participation. While we must offer multiple avenues of reparative support to students, we recognize and respect that many will be dissatisfied with such efforts. We will welcome all such critiques for our collective consideration.
As we look forward to being together again in January, we aim to rebuild trust as a community through university-wide opportunities to engage in dialogue throughout the spring semester. We hope you will return with a desire to join this work in designing creative and effective remedies. These are the hallmarks of our students, and are the foundation of everything we do at The New School.
Please continue to reach out to studentquestions@newschool.edu with questions.
We wish our entire community a restful and renewing winter break.