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Letters from the Chancellor

A Letter from Interim Chancellor Larry D. Sparks

January 22, 2019 Letters from the Chancellor

Faculty, Staff, and Students,

Welcome to the spring 2019 semester at the University of Mississippi. I am honored to serve our university community as interim chancellor. It is a great responsibility, and I will do my best to serve as an effective steward and facilitate a smooth transition period until we welcome our next chancellor.

Read More

A Letter of Appreciation

November 13, 2018 Letters from the Chancellor

It is bittersweet to write this note after announcing on Friday my decision to step down as chancellor and return to the faculty. Serving as your chancellor has been the greatest professional privilege of my life. We have dealt with taxing challenges and big opportunities, and we have built a solid foundation and momentum for the future. At the same time, I have concluded that the time is right for someone new to take the helm.Read More

NCAA Appeals Committee Overturns Recruiting Sanction, Closes University’s Case

November 1, 2018 Letters from the Chancellor

The NCAA Appeals Committee released its decision today, bringing the nearly six-year process to an end. The university prevailed in its appeal of the most onerous sanction, the penalty restricting unofficial visits.

Visit www.umncaacase.com for a more detailed letter from university leadership and other related public documents.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Vitter

Chancellor and Distinguished Professor

 

Letter from UM Chancellor on Next Steps for Community

September 21, 2018 Letters from the Chancellor

Our leadership team has heard a lot of input — both in the last 48 hours and prior to that time — about the environment at Ole Miss and in Oxford as both the university and the town have grown.  Our community has long taken pride in providing a welcoming environment for all who come here to study or visit.  However, a number of students eloquently stated at last night’s campus listening sessions that our community does not always feel welcoming to them.  We heard you.

The university’s leadership team will utilize a two-pronged process to enable our community to address an array of concerns emanating from the unacceptable social media posts published earlier this week by a prominent donor to the university.  The near-term prong, which involves consideration of a name change for an academic unit, is governed by existing university process.

In light of calls by some in our community to change the name of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, it is important to explain the university’s long-established process to consider whether to modify the name of an existing academic unit. All of the following steps must be completed in order to make a name change:

  • The faculty committee of the academic unit must approve a recommendation to make a name change.
  • If that faculty group recommends a change, the matter must be taken up by the Undergraduate and Graduate councils. These councils have faculty from across the entire university and one voting student representative on each council.
  • The actions of the councils are then considered by the Council of Academic Administrators, which is chaired by the provost. Its voting members include all deans, the Faculty Senate chair, faculty representatives, the three vice chancellors within Academic Affairs, the ASB president, and the Graduate Student Council president.
  • If the Council of Academic Administrators recommends a change, the matter is referred to the Chancellor, who would decide whether to make a request to the IHL Board for consideration and a final vote.

This process is, by design, thoughtful and intentional.  It is open to input from students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and it meets all accreditation requirements for changing organizational units on campus, including a unit’s name.  We will follow this approach to consider any name change.

The other, longer-term prong will include expedited acquisition of additional feedback and consideration of new actions and strategies to address concerns around university and community climate.  This initiative will be led by Katrina Caldwell, vice chancellor for diversity and community engagement, and informed by input from students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

I want to close by reiterating my thanks to the students who shared many emotional comments and perspectives at last night’s listening sessions.  Your willingness to step forward and discuss how this week’s events affected you in a frank and civil manner reflected the best of what we want for our university.  It is the constructive way for families to deal with the tough stuff in life, and it’s how our university family will address these issues going forward.

Jeffrey S. Vitter

Chancellor

UPDATES:

Click to read the most recent update on the process on School of Journalism name change on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

Read the statement from Chancellor Jeffrey S. Vitter outlining the process to consider a name change on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

Read a response to a statement issued by Ed Meek on Saturday, Sept. 22.

Read the message sent from UM leadership about posts made by a UM donor on Thursday, Sept. 20.

Statement from Chancellor Vitter Regarding the NCAA Case Involving Football

December 1, 2017 Letters from the Chancellor

Today, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions issued its report to the University of Mississippi regarding the NCAA investigation of the football program.  In the report, the committee disagreed with the institution’s position on most of the contested allegations.  In addition to accepting our previously self-imposed sanctions, the committee has imposed a postseason ban for 2018.

While we continue to review the full report, we will vigorously appeal the 2018 postseason ban. The additional postseason ban is excessive and does not take into account the corrective actions that we have made in personnel, structure, policies and processes to address the issues.

Vice Chancellor for Athletics Ross Bjork and I will be available to the media at 1 p.m. CT in the Burns Team Meeting Room in the Manning Center to discuss the Committee’s findings.

For links to public case documents, please visit umncaacase.com.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey S. Vitter

Chancellor and Distinguished Professor

 

A Thanksgiving Message from Chancellor Jeffrey S. Vitter

November 21, 2017 Letters from the Chancellor

Greetings:

Each year, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the hustle and bustle of the ensuing holiday season. We especially embrace it as a time to appreciate the many wonderful people in our lives and the multitude of blessings we share. Since we arrived almost two years ago, Sharon and I continue to be tremendously grateful to be part of such a diverse, caring, and dynamic university community. I am inspired on a daily basis by the dedication and outstanding accomplishments across our campuses.Read More

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