Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for all of the ways that you contributed to Portland State University’s mission this year. We are a community in transition — working together in many ways to prepare our university for a strong, sustainable future.
As 2025 closes, I also want to extend a special thank you to Chuck Knepfle, Vice President of Enrollment Management, for his leadership and expertise. Chuck will be leaving Portland State at the end of this year, as Enrollment Management is folded into Academic Affairs.
I am especially grateful for Chuck’s leadership in engaging the campus community on developing an undergraduate Strategic Enrollment Plan. The plan surfaced many important campuswide initiatives — some of which we have already begun to implement — that will result in a stronger PSU.
These initiatives include:
- Improving the PSU website
- Developing pathways for Pell-eligible adult learners
- Working with Student Success to seed cohort-based programs for related majors (AKA meta-majors)
- Flexible scholarship programs
- Integration of career readiness into general education
These are just a few of the many ideas that came up and I look forward to the implementation phase of PSU’s collective creativity and strategic thinking.
The new year will also bring the completed transition of student-facing programs previously managed by Global Diversity and Inclusion to the Office of Academic Affairs and the transition of the Office of Equity and Compliance to the newly created Office of Equity, Compliance & Internal Audit. I am grateful for the leadership of Julie Caron, who has been overseeing this work as interim Vice President for GDI. Our search for a new Chief Diversity Officer is well underway and I look forward to working with everyone in our campus community to ensure that we continue our efforts to center equity in our work to serve students and our city.
Thanks again for everything you do for PSU and best wishes for a restful holiday season.
Sincerely,
Ann Cudd
Portland State President