July Update

On this page, you will find the July 30, 2025 communication from President Dr. Lisa Lambert.
July Update from the President
By Lisa Lambert / 30 July 2025

 

Hi everyone,

I’m over a month into my job as Interim President, and one of my goals for the coming year is to help improve communication and knowledge sharing. While June was devoted to managing the transition in the President’s Office, starting this July, I’d like to begin monthly updates to the community. These will be available on a new “From the President” page on chatham.edu (so you don’t have to search through your emails!) I’m also meeting with staff and academic departments to listen and answer questions. If I haven’t met with your department yet, I look forward to doing so soon.

Federal Changes & Impact on Chatham 

Chatham administrative offices have been carefully monitoring the news from both Washington and Harrisburg to see the impact that the many changes could have on our students and Chatham. While some of the changes in the recent law will not take effect until next year, students (and universities) need to be reviewing these now. Inside Higher Ed provided a recent summary of some of the changes you can review here. Chatham will not be affected by the change to the endowment tax. Still, our students could be affected by changes to student loans, repayment options, SNAP, and Medicaid. CIC and NAICU are providing advice, but we are also interviewing Financial Aid support firms to help us help our students navigate these challenges.

Campus Community and Environment

New Employees
  • Conlan Burd, Head Coach - Women's and Men's Track & Field
  • Raquel Lemelle, Program Assistant - Nursing
  • Mia Ellis, HR Employment Associate - Human Resources
  • Brian Baudinet, Head Men's Basketball Coach
  • Venetia Singletary, Human Resources Coordinator
  • Matthew Rovnak, Plumber - Facilities 
  • Scott Tatar, Assistant Director of Campus Services - Facilities
Workday
The Workday Platform (HR, Finance, and Payroll systems) is live and running. I’m very grateful for the time and efforts of the many people involved in this project, particularly in the Business Office, HR, and IT. Please join me in thanking them, AND please be patient. Replacement of an over 20-year-old finance system means there will still be “bugs” to work out, and more training sessions and resources (videos, documents) are being prepared. In the meantime, we have also begun the implementation process for replacing our current student information system, Anthology, with Workday Student. This will be a multi-year process, with more updates throughout the academic year.
Facilities and Campus Service Updates
Facilities Management and Campus Services have been busy over the summer. Some recent highlights include:
  • The Eastside parking lot was paved on July 18, a new awning is being installed, and the grounds and landscaping have been improved.
  • The new Chatham Gear Shop is open next to Café Rachel, and the Susan Gurrentz Art Gallery relocation and renovations are progressing and will be ready in the fall.
  • The new classrooms in Braun for the School of Business & Enterprise are nearing completion and will open this August.  
  • Architecture and planning work is nearing completion on the Eastside Athletic Annex (including a weight room) and the Health and Human Performance Center (the new home for athletic training and Exercise Science) on the upper floor of Eastside. We aim to begin demolition and construction in August, and the project will run through the academic year.
Dilworth Hall
As a new strategy to continue improving our residence halls (with the residential hall capacity to achieve this fall), we have decided to bring Dilworth Residence Hall “offline” this academic year. This will allow Facilities to do much-needed work during the year without disturbing the residents. This will include painting, wall repairs, bathroom refreshes, and other updates.
Communications
The leadership team and I are looking for ways to improve internal communications. One suggestion from my meeting with the Staff Engagement Committee was to create an organized archive of important emails on specific topics (for example, personnel changes, facilities updates, or letters like this one!). We’re working on getting this set up now. Communication isn’t one-sided; we need to hear from you. Please share your ideas with your chair or department head.

Budget and Enrollment

24-25 Update 
Thanks to a good response for Day of Giving and the generosity of the Board, we expect to come in at or near our budget goal for FY25 when all the accounts are closed. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean we have solved the structural deficit problem. However, we are doing much better at managing our finances and debt, which does mean we have improved our Federal Financial Responsibility (FFR) score. This is excellent news because it helps with accreditation, debt ratings, financial aid, and funding requests.
25-26 Update
The 25-26 budget will be finalized and approved by the Board at the October Board meeting. Work is underway to refine the preliminary budget and track this against fall enrollment (and its implications for the budget). The Leadership Team members will provide regular budget information over the coming months.
Fundraising News
Recent Gifts & Awards
  • Congratulations to the Graduate Psychology department, which recently received two NIH HRSA awards.
  • The family of Susan Bergman Gurrentz, class of 1956, generously donated $100,000 to support the moves and updates to the Gurrentz Art Gallery in Woodland Hall.
  • The family of former Board of Trustees member Murray Rust donated $25,000 to support the construction of the Applied Learning Lab in the School of Business.
Submitting Ideas
If you have an idea for a fundraising goal, please pass it along. I am actively working with Advancement and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) to develop a toolkit of one-page request summaries to take to donors and foundations. Expanding our income from philanthropic sources is a primary goal for this year.
Presidential Search
The Board of Trustees runs all Presidential searches. They are working to form a committee, and updates on the process will come from the Board. And yes, I am a candidate for the position.
Upcoming Dates
Please mark your calendars for these and other events listed on MyChatham. 
  • Quantum Theater (Production of The Seagull on the Chatham campus runs from now until August 17: https://www.quantumtheatre.com/seagull/)
  • Employee Community update: Monday, August 18
  • First day of fall classes: Monday, August 25
  • Homecoming and Alumni Reunion: October 3-5
Thanks for your patience for a very long first newsletter and for everything you do for Chatham.
 
Lisa