Dear Concordians,

I speak with you today after making the difficult decision to proceed with a reduction in force at both campuses.

Today, I'd like to ensure that you understand the steps we are taking and why we are taking them. I also want to explain how we will move forward together with God's grace to chart a path that secures the future of Concordia University and our ability to live out our mission for years to come.

First, I am so grateful to our leaders on the Board of Regents and the entire Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor community who participated in our strategic planning process this past year.

"Wholeheartedly, We Will" is the theme of the plan we crafted together.

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we set out to elevate Concordia University as a rising regional university.

By relentlessly prioritizing our Christian faith and the truth of God's Word, we are remaining steadfast in our commitment to provide an uncommon and transformational student experience for all.

We took inspiration from Colossians 3:23-24 when we engaged hundreds of faculty and staff and students on alumni, and leaders in our process to identify the themes, goals, and objectives that will carry us forward well into the future.

Wholeheartedly, we will live our mission, create transformational student experiences, secure resources for mission and enhance the CUWAA model.

I must admit I had a different vision in mind for CUWAA when I accepted the call to serve as President and throughout the past year as we worked together on this plan.

This last month has been especially difficult.

Yet our commitment to these goals and to preserving and securing Concordia's legacy makes it critically important that we take decisive action now to implement our strategic plan.

As you know, as part of our planning process, We engaged with a reputable outside firm to assess the university's overall financial health, identify areas for attention, set measurable goals and establish clear benchmarks to chart our progress.

The assessment incorporated new metrics, benchmarks, data points and historical analysis to capture our full financial picture.

It was abundantly clear that we needed to take immediate action to preserve our strength and legacy, particularly at our Ann Arbor campus.

On February 29, the Board unanimously agreed to protect CUAA's 2024-25 academic year. It also voted unanimously to explore the possibility of the campus becoming an autonomous university within the Concordia University System at some point in the future.

To that end, the board has recently appointed a task force representing a wide range of constituency groups including members from the South Wisconsin, North Wisconsin and Michigan Districts of the LCMS and from across our church body.

The board also charged Concordia's leaders with appropriately matching the size of our workforce with our enrollment.

Employees affected by the force reduction have been notified this month and their final day of employment will be May 31, 2024.

These Concordians are valued members of our university community, and we sincerely appreciate their dedication to our mission.

Their commitment to providing our students with a transformative education and their contributions to improving the quality of our lives as friends, colleagues, and brothers and sisters in Christ.

The university will offer severance packages and out-placement services for these affected individuals.

We will not minimize the impact of these changes. They're incredibly painful for all of us. At the same time, we know that fulfilling our mission depends on addressing our financial challenges in a way that ensures we will have strong future as a university.

We are making these decisions because we need to preserve what is central to our mission at Concordia, and to ensure that we can live out that meaningful work in new, creative, and bold ways for generations to come.

Let me conclude by saying a bit more about our profound work ahead of us. I understand the sacrifices so many of us are making during this difficult time. And I am grateful for the dedication and determination our university community is demonstrating.

Those sacrifices will only be worthwhile, however, if we use the financial stability we achieve to fulfill the vision outlined in "Wholeheartedly, We Will."

For example, our strategic plan calls on the university to provide students with an extraordinary general education.

Let's commit to designing a curriculum unlike any other university's, with mission-focused curricular elements that help students identify and pursue the many vocations to which God has called them.

What if we paired that curriculum with a new comprehensive advising model -- as suggested in our plan -- with specific mission-focused curricular and cocurricular milestones that mark student progress from orientation through commencement.

At the top of our list of challenges is to build enrollment at all levels. We know that we need to adjust our portfolio of programs reducing some and creating others.

How can we curate high impact experiences for our students that allow them to truly experience Concordia's distinctive mission and to develop their abilities to serve God and their communities?

And we know that we need to reimagine our fundraising and advancement to help secure our vibrant financial future.

The more successful we are in providing our students with genuine opportunities to live the Concordia mission, the better we will be able to share those experiences with prospective donors and alumni...Which will create a stronger foundation for annual and long term gift-giving.

Despite our challenges, we have an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the strength of our resolve and to redouble our efforts to live our mission faithfully.

I know and love this university, especially because of our commitment to our students, and to each other. It's extraordinary and second to none.

Together with the hope that our faith in Christ provides we can strengthen our enduring foundation for what I believe is a remarkable future for Concordia University.

Wholeheartedly, we will.