Holistic Student Wellness Initiative

The Holistic Student Wellness committee will formally begin its work at its first meeting on September 20, 2023. Spencer Williams, assistant professor in Experimental and Foundation Studies, and Bethany Jankunis, vice president of strategy and planning, will co-chair the committee’s work.

Dear Faculty and Staff,

On May 9, President Williams announced two initiatives that will strengthen RISD for the future and set the stage for our next strategic planning process: the Holistic Student Wellness Initiative and the Financial Optimization Initiative.  I write today to provide an update on these initiatives and announce the members of the core committees, which will drive the work and lead our community’s engagement in these efforts.

As you will recall, to provide the widest pool of candidates and build the most robust and representative committees, we invited all faculty and staff to self-nominate, and we gathered nominations from Cabinet, Deans, and managers.  With the goal of building 20-person committees that are as representative as possible of our full community, we selected members for the core committees based on stakeholder group, division or unit, subject matter expertise, personal backgrounds and experience, and other factors.

The Holistic Student Wellness Initiative aims to provide a comprehensive examination of student wellness, including the degree to which the living, learning and working environments we provide for students are consistent with our stated values concerning their physical, emotional and mental well-being. In addition to two student leaders to be named this fall, members of this committee are:

• Patricia Barbeito - Professor, Literary Arts and Studies
• David Carreon Bradley - Vice President, Social Equity and Inclusion
• Janice DeFrances - Senior Lecturer, Teaching + Learning in Art + Design
• Ginnie Dunleavy - Executive Director, Auxiliary Services
• Spencer Evans - Assistant Professor, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• Holly Gaboriault – Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Illustration
• Touba Ghadessi - Provost
• Alison Huff - Academic Division Manager, Fine Arts
• Bethany Jankunis - Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President
• Tony Johnson - Associate Dean, Student Social Equity and Inclusion
• Elyana Kadish- Health Educator, Student Affairs
• Maya Krinsky - Associate Director, Multilingual Learning and Inclusive Teaching
• Deborah Levans - Director, Counseling and Psychological Services
• Khipra Nichols - Associate Professor, Industrial Design
• Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino - Dean, Liberal Arts
• Sara Rothenberger - Associate Dean of Students, Student Affairs
• Joanne Stryker - Dean, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• Brian Ulrich - Department Head and Associate Professor, Photography

The Financial Optimization Initiative aims to strengthen our long-term financial sustainability, maximize the use of our limited funds and build new and expanded revenue streams that strengthen our financial base and support our mission. Members of this core committee are:

• Alejandro Borsani - Associate Professor, Experimental and Foundational Studies
• Jennifer Bose - Deputy Director, Museum Finance and Operations
• David Carreon Bradley - Vice President, Social Equity and Inclusion
• John Caserta - Dean, Architecture and Design
• Sarah Cunningham - Vice Provost, Strategic Partnerships
• Bob DiMuccio - Board of Trustees
• Susan Doyle - Professor, Illustration
• Fabian Fondriest – Board of Trustees
• Richard Gann- Senior Critic, Illustration
• Touba Ghadessi - Provost
• Brooks Hagan - Dean, Fine Arts
• Brandon Ice - Director of Operations, Student Affairs
• Bethany Jankunis - Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President
• Leora Maltz-Leca - Professor, Theory and History of Art and Design
• Jorge Mejia - Director, Auxiliary Business Affairs and Budget
• Rick Mickool - Chief Information Officer
• David Rosati - Senior Vice President, Finance and Administration
• Jack Silva - Vice President, Campus Services
• Nicholas Ventola - Technical Assistant III, Experimental and Foundation Studies
• JOFF - Associate Professor, Apparel Design

Thank you to these individuals for committing to lead this important work, which will begin formally this fall. It is clear that in order to be successful and maximize the impact of these efforts we must engage the insights, expertise, passion and creativity of our full community. We will create many ways to do so throughout this process and look forward to you joining us in this work.

Sincerely, 
Bethany Jankunis 
Vice President of Strategy and Planning & Senior Advisor to the President

Dear Faculty and Staff,

Today we kickoff planning for two initiatives that will strengthen RISD for the future and set the stage for our next strategic planning process.  

The Financial Optimization Initiative (formerly the Financial Sustainability Task Force) aims to strengthen our long-term financial sustainability, maximize the use of our limited funds and build new and expanded revenue streams that strengthen our financial base, and increase resources to support our core mission. The initial work will include: 

• a review of the institution’s business model, including its strengths and vulnerabilities, and recommendations for alternative future models.
• a deep analysis of RISD's historical spending, including identifying and quantifying longstanding, complex academic and administratively inefficient practices and structures, along with recommendations for alternative ways of operating in these areas. 
• identification and feasibility analyses of opportunities to increase revenue from non-traditional sources.

The Holistic Student Wellness Initiative aims to provide a comprehensive examination of student wellness, including the degree to which the living, learning and working environments we provide for students are consistent with our stated values concerning their physical, emotional and mental well-being. The initial work will include:

• developing an expansive definition of wellness and thriving across a student’s journey from applicant to alumni.
• using quantitative and qualitative data to measure and understand overall wellness among subsets of students. 
• assessing the degree to which current systems, practices and policies support or challenge student wellness and recommendations for change
• proposing new and expanded programs and other creative approaches that foster student wellness.  

These initiatives have been carefully shaped to integrate the thoughtful feedback and advice that I have received from members of our community about their hopes for future planning. The initiatives will:

• Dig into complex institutional challenges that have been repeatedly identified and long-recognized but not fully addressed. 
• Be deeply collaborative and engage all constituencies through each stage, allowing us to benefit from the great expertise, passion and creativity of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and board members.  
• Begin- not end- with a robust exploration of each topic and the development of findings and recommendations led by a core committee.  With continued community engagement, we then will prioritize from among the recommendations, develop operational plans and timelines, then implement them.
• Be transparent, including regularly sharing information and progress updates through a variety of vehicles, including email, in-person presentations and an interactive webpage.  

The work for each initiative will be led by a small, multi-stakeholder core committee of 15- 20 members charged with engaging and convening the community deeply in its work, then shaping findings and recommendations that are responsive to the initiative's charge. This work will begin fully in the fall and continue for approximately 1½ years. Core committees will include some members appointed directly because of their subject matter expertise or position and others appointed following self-nomination. Members of the Dean’s Council and Cabinet will provide input into the composition of each committee to ensure committees are comprised of a broad range of stakeholders, subject matter expertise, and experience.  Bethany Jankunis, vice president of strategy and planning and senior advisor to the president, will hold responsibility for launching and leading both initiatives.

If you would like to self-nominate for Core Committee membership, please complete this brief form for the Financial Optimization Initiative or this form for the Holistic Student Wellness Initiative by Tuesday, May 15.

I look forward to receiving your nomination and fully launching these important initiatives early this fall.

Sincerely,
Crystal (she/her)