Organized by the 15^th Faculty Senate President Dr. Kate Moots, Convocation brought together faculty from all departments to ring in the new academic year. 

UOG President Dr. Robert Underwood welcomed the faculty with words of encouragement, explaining that despite the challenges, the University continues to improve and make positive strides towards success.

“We are efficient and effective with our resources,” he said. “We are learning what it means to connect our resources to our passion and our mission in the form of our hedgehog. We are a more productive faculty. We are experimenting with new processes and we have made some orderly administrative transitions.”

And as a university that marries both the global and local audiences and responsibilities, the institutional improvement in the form of God to Great must continue, he said.

 

“‘Glocalization.’- marrying the global with the local not in a perfunctory or ordered way, but in a way that engages us all, he said. “This is a special challenge. Glocalization demands of all of us the need to stay engaged in the purpose of institutional improvement and reform. We have an amazing year ahead of us. Infused by the G2G spirit in which our island regional focus defines the essential greatness of the University in global terms, we have many opportunities and much work ahead of us.”

 

Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Anita Borja Enriquez informed the crowd of the imminent review by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in November. Stressing the importance of the Institutional Learning Outcomes of the University and how UOG’s Good to Great efforts will aid in the review process, she expressed her excitement for the upcoming school year and all it will bring.

“As an institution, we look forward to a very favorable accreditation review,” she said. “As a community of scholars, we know that learning and assessment are ongoing, and we will always strive towards effectuating better outcomes.  To our Faculty Senate leaders, officers of our Student Government Association leadership, faculty and members of the Enrollment Management and Student Success team, and our University community, we are all in this together. You individually and collectively bring unique value to support our mission well.”