MEMORANDUM
To: President’s Leadership Team
From: Jay Golden, PhD
Date: November 1, 2019
Ref: On Boarding Materials
It was a pleasure to briefly meet with most of you in person. I would like to take a moment and thank you for your support and kindness-everything I heard and expected from Shocker Nation. It is obvious that a great leadership team exists at WSU as evidenced by the strong progress the university is making in so many areas.
As I have mentioned during some of our discussions, I am anxious to have the opportunity to hit the ground running which, means taking the time to review and understand important background information. Of equal importance is to ensure that each of you have the opportunity to be able to communicate to me your insights and suggestions so that working together we can make Wichita State University even more impactful for our students and our region.
Attached are a set of questions to help me get caught up and importantly, to provide you the opportunity to offer up your insights and thoughts including how I can support you. I am eager to understand your vision and ideas regarding where you want to take the university. By providing these questions now, I am hopeful to provide you sufficient time to gather the requested information but also have the time to consider some of the broader questions I have put forward. Do not limit your responses to the space provided, use as much as needed. Please place this document and supplemental materials in a labeled binder (bonus points for creativity) with dividers for sections. I would suggest making yourself a copy so we can go through together.
Your on-going leadership and input are critical to our success. I want you to know that you should feel empowered at any time to bring to me your ideas or concerns. Engaged listening, teamwork and transparency are key elements of my leadership style.
I strongly encourage you to engage the leaders in your organization and solicit their input. I will be coming back on campus at least twice for multi-day visits/meetings before officially start with the new semester. Either during one of those visits or once I arrive full-time in Wichita, I will schedule extended initial meetings with each of you to go over these materials and get to know one another better. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to me by email at: president@wichita.edu.
Finally, each of you has contributed to the incredible positive trajectory of WSU. I want to thank you for your hard work and dedication. I look forward to working with each of you and supporting you as we continue to move this wonderful institution forward.