Truing the Course

It is a tremendous honor—equally humbling and exhilarating—to serve as Northland’s president, following 131 years of extraordinary and visionary leadership. I am committed to the charge, and I look forward to navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead as we, collectively, build the Northland we all imagine and work to continue “to empower our students and our broader community to act with integrity and to create a more sustainable and just future”—for ourselves, our campus, our College, our community, our region, and beyond.

While still quite new in this role, I am somewhat of a familiar face on campus, having joined the Board of Trustees in 2015 and serving as chair from 2018 to 2022. My first visit to the Northland campus was in 2014 at the invitation of then-President Mike Miller and author Becky Rom to speak at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute about my work engaging youth on public lands and waters. Northland was the final stop on a three-day, seven-college speaking tour, and immediately upon my arrival—not even having seen the campus—I knew I had arrived somewhere very special; Northland felt like home. This sentiment remains true—even more so—nearly a decade later; I feel as though I have come home.

There is something special and deeply inspiring about this College, this mission, this place, this lake, these woods, this region, and Northland’s people. What has become clear over these past one hundred days as president, is that the dedication, care, and commitment of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and supporters is steadfast. And, in as much as people can define the ethos of a place—or an institution—Northland College is strong and well poised to move forward toward a brighter, more vibrant future.

There is a clear path to stability and ultimately, to vibrancy ahead—not a reinvention, but more a truing of the wheel. If we lean further into our niche, focus on enhancing our unique excellence, and all paddle in the same direction, Northland will certainly thrive.

Having revised and reaffirmed our mission statement in 2022, the Northland College community crafted a Strategic Plan that will chart our course for the next seven years. It is critical that this plan not gather dust on a shelf, but both serve as a guiding document—a roadmap—and be nimble and responsive as we go forward. To that end, the actions that underpin the plan focus on the next one-to-three years, and we will review this plan regularly.

Northland’s 2023–2030 Strategic Plan was guided by student input and was overwhelmingly approved by faculty, staff, and trustees earlier this year. The plan will be published later this year, and it is framed around four pillars:

The Northland Story

Like all upper-Midwesterners, we are often too shy about celebrating our successes and proudly telling our story, and Northland’s is more important and relevant now than ever. We have many great stories to tell more loudly—our students, faculty, and staff are amazing and doing incredible work. To this end, a multi-constituent working group is finalizing a new values statement to accompany our renewed mission. We will utilize our renewed mission and new statement of values to lean further—and more boldly— into our environmental liberal arts niche and to better tell our story to the world.

Student Experience and Success

Northland students are, simply put, the reason we exist as an institution. Increasing student enrollment and retention is critical to our work ahead, and an integral part of this is to enhance the Northland student experience in meaningful and creative ways—both in bolstering a sense of community and in prioritizing resource support. The College will continue to invest in academic and health/ wellness support services and processes, as well as work to increase experiential, research, and professional development opportunities for our students.

Program Excellence

Northland faculty are incredible, whollycommitted educators, professionals, and members of a local, regional, and global community—well-poised to continue to inspire curiosity and nurture the capacity for learning in our students. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that Northland graduates are prepared for personal and professional success after their time here. In educating our students to make an impact on our world, we achieve our highest goal—being a catalyst for meaningful change.

Indeed, “together, we empower students and our broader community to act with integrity and courage to create a more sustainable and just future.”

Operational Vitality

We seek to align our current financial sources and uses through careful, strategic prioritization of our internal and external investments. As we go forward, committing to rebuilding our endowment and securing operational reserves is paramount to sustainability today and ensuring Northland’s vibrant and stable future.

As always, thank you for all you do for Northland. It is more important now than ever, and I look forward to working with each of you—our collective Northland community—on a transformational journey to not only secure Northland’s future for the next one hundred years, but also to continue to identify and harness the potential of Northland’s vibrant north star.