President Robert L. Manuel > Notes from Rob > 2023-24 > A New Year

A New Year

By Rob Manuel / January 9, 2024 / Twitter / Facebook

Happy New Year, and welcome back to campus! I hope you had an enjoyable break and a good first day of classes. It’s great to see our Loop and Lincoln Park campuses buzzing with activity again.

I’m happy to report we’re starting the new year strong. Based on preliminary data, our enrollment is currently ahead of last year’s winter quarter by more than 400 students, driven by growth in both our graduate and undergraduate programs. I will share final numbers after we have the winter census, and we can certainly applaud this positive news in the meantime.

As we embark on a new year, let us also look back and celebrate additional achievements that earned national and local media attention for our university:

Received a National Science Foundation award of $750,000 for a multi-year research project to track the psychology and equity of public spaces.
Hosted the Optimizing Digital Innovation Conference for professionals in technology to share AI knowledge with industry peers, students, and faculty.
Celebrated the accomplishments of community members who had their creative work featured at the National Museum of Mexican Art, at O’Hare International Airport, and on PBS and Amazon Prime Video.
Created Buddy Abroad, a multiplayer board game to prepare students for scenarios they may encounter studying abroad and give them advice for how to overcome challenges.
Brought stories of immigration to life with the book “Chicago Mosaic.”
Honored Young Lords’ legacy in Lincoln Park.

These are only a few highlights from the fall quarter, and we will build on this momentum. In case you missed some of the updates we shared last quarter, a Designing DePaul Digest email is coming your way soon, and you can always stay updated by visiting the Designing DePaul website. Congratulations to our faculty, staff, and students on your collective achievements, and thank you for your continued hard work. Please know how honored I am to work alongside you.

Looking ahead to the next quarter, here are activities you can expect to see move forward:

Areas across the university will host book club discussions focused on Designing DePaul and our path forward as a university. These sessions will feed directly into the development of strategic plans for each college, school, and administrative unit. If you haven’t seen the official Designing DePaul eBook yet, you can either download a PDF or access it via Kindle by following these steps:

Visit this Designing DePaul eBook page on the President’s website
Follow the instructions to download the PDF or send the eBook to your Kindle

The search for a new vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion will officially begin. I will share updates as we form a search committee, as well as opportunities for our community members to be involved throughout the process.
Mission and Ministry also is in the process of hiring a Jewish Life coordinator. We hope to fill this position very soon, and Mission and Ministry will share updates as they are available.
This month, our digital presence work also will officially kick off. We will share an announcement very soon about the firm we selected to lead this project, as well as next steps.

I will share updates on these initiatives, as well as others, at an online town hall this quarter. Please be on the lookout for an invitation with details to follow.

While I have much hope for 2024 and our continued progress as we aim to be a national leader in higher education, I also acknowledge the complexity and challenges of the world we live in today. I ask you to begin this new year by renewing our commitment to foster civil, meaningful discourse.

Let us embrace our Vincentian values of human dignity, empathy, and compassion, particularly as we navigate challenging and emotional situations. I encourage you to continue engaging in the respectful exchange of ideas and to use DePaul’s guiding principles to navigate complex situations. In addition, please remember the university created guiding principles for speech and expression to serve as a foundation for these conversations.

If you or someone you know is struggling and needs support, especially for concerns surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, the following services are always available:

University Counseling and Psychological Services: Students may call 773-325-2273, option 1 | Counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Employee Assistance Program: 1-800-621-4124 | DePaul employees can call for guidance, resources, or to speak to a counselor one-on-one.
Division of Mission & Ministry: 773-325-7902 | Please note, the Division of Mission and Ministry includes spiritual leaders of many faiths
International Student & Scholar Services: 312-362-8376 | iss@depaul.edu

Thank you as always for everything you do to make DePaul the special and caring community we value so much. I wish you an outstanding year ahead filled with peace and joy.