President John Marshall will be starting his first year in the position this coming fall semester and he has already started his initiatives.
On July 29, Marshall and his team went live on Facebook to give updates on how the campus will continue to deal with COVID. It was announced that Dr. Amy Bronson will be heading the new COVID Command team. The stream highly encouraged students to get vaccinated for the school year, but also made it known that it will not be required.
“The unifying theme for this fall’s phase of our pandemic response plan centers on engagement, education, empowerment and community responsibility. Put simply, it’s a philosophy that returns us to our reason for existing as an institution of higher education and reinforces our collective responsibility to one another as peers and colleagues,” Marshall wrote.
There was also a town hall by phone on Aug. 3 where the community could ask questions directly. The administrative team plans on regular town halls and live streams where people can interact and ask questions. Their goal is to increase input so decisions can be made in a beneficial way to what students want.
“I need to make sure we have an outstanding university for students to receive a world class education. Some of that is resource driven, some of that is culture driven to make sure you continue to have a place to go to solve problems, to be able to share your aspirations and dreams with the campus we all own,” Marshall said.
Marshall is set on continuing the expansion of Colorado Mesa University (CMU) and bettering the academic programs and student life. He plans on having many opportunities for students and concerned parties to speak up about the issues they may have with campus. Open doors are his goal for the semester.
After his semester of heading the Safe Together, Strong Together initiative, he is staying heavily involved in the decisions about COVID. Marshall plans on evolving with every turn of the pandemic in a way that will keep students safe.
“Our goal and promise is to communicate openly and transparently, share data and facts, and help members of the campus community make informed decisions about their health and the health of the Mavily,” Marshall said.
Marshall started his position at the beginning of July 2021, which has put him at more than 20 years working for CMU as a professor, advisor and administrator. He stated that his time here has been incredible and he looks forward to the many years to come as he continues at the university.
As he works forward, another goal is to help clubs and organizations on campus flourish. He plans on working with the Associated Student Government (ASG), especially in terms of funds. ASG works with Student Life to give student organizations the money they need and Marshall will play a big role in how the year goes.
In the 2022-2023 school year, he will also be a part of the biennial process, which determines student fees and club funding for the next two fiscal years. Marshall stated that his ultimate goal is to provide quality education while keeping CMU’s prices the lowest of any university in Colorado, which keeps college attainable.
The Montrose and WCCC campuses are also being looked at in terms of improvement for coming years. Marshall wants every student to feel like they are as much apart of CMU as main campus.
“There have been a variety of things in the past several years that we have been doing to grow that footprint[…] in Montrose, we acquired a couple new buildings and we will continue to move forward with them. Those are the kind of partnerships we can continue to build on,” Marshall said.
The next school year will kick off with an opportunity to meet the president on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
