October 22, 2020

Dear MICA Faculty, Staff, Students, and Trustees,

As shared in last Friday’s Report on the Action Plan for a DEIG-Driven and Safe MICA, Human Resources (HR) is moving under the Office of the President this month.

I am pleased to announce that, ahead of schedule, HR becomes an independent unit reporting directly to the President. This shift is the first key step in relaunching HR as a central College function and building its capacity as a core driver of institutional improvement and change.

The full journey of the HR relaunch will be completed in Spring 2021, with other key steps as follows:

• Charlene Moore Hayes is expanding her consultancy role with MICA as HR Transition Leader to provide interim leadership of HR. Charlene is a highly experienced HR leader in higher education; her impressive background can be viewed here. In addition to working with Colleen Cashill and the HR team to deliver services to the MICA community, Charlene will assist me in designing the relaunched HR function.
• As previously shared, MICA is actively seeking expert consultation that will lead to a revamp of our institutional processes and procedures of Title IX and other equity concerns. We anticipate newly designed processes for the launch of the Spring 2021 semester. Information about our current policies can be viewed here; a separate memo will follow in the near future regarding the interim plan for Fall 2020. Pending further updates, Colleen Cashill remains the College's Title IX Coordinator.
• We are capturing the campus community’s hopes and wishes for HR through the recent and well-participated “Reimagined HR” Survey, as well as ongoing focus groups conducted by Charlene. We will share the findings after the conclusion of the focus groups, likely later next week.
• In November, Charlene and I will conduct meetings with faculty, staff, and student leaders to discuss our thinking on the future of HR at MICA. A campus memo will then share the final results of this visioning process with the MICA community.
• A national search for a new vice president will commence in November with the issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for executive search services. I expect the newly identified leader to join MICA in mid/late-Spring 2021.

In the meantime, I ask that you give Charlene and the HR team your support. The HR staff is a group of dedicated professionals who have demonstrated their commitment to MICA and worked especially hard during these last few months as we have managed many difficult HR-related matters. The team is as eager as the campus community to reposition and enhance support of their work.

I look forward to working with everyone to make the relaunch of HR a fulfillment of your expressed needs and desires.

Sammy