During the past few months, nearly 100 faculty and staff collaborated across eight workstreams to analyze budgets and make recommendations for the future, generate efficiencies in spending, explore our use of campus space and identify new ways to generate revenue. That work helped inform key organizational changes, particularly the integration of the Office of Economic Engagement, Office of Marketing and Communication, and Office of Public Affairs into a new Office of University Relations, which will be led by Vice President of University Relations and General Counsel Paul Jones.
Rana Altenburg will continue to lead the critical work of public affairs for Marquette as associate vice president for public affairs, reporting to Jones. As previously announced, Vice President for Marketing and Communication Dave Murphy is retiring in March and Maura Donovan, vice president for economic engagement, has decided to leave her role at Marquette at the end of February. Both have agreed to help in the transition of leadership in their offices.
“I am thrilled to lead a dynamic group of individuals in the new Office of University Relations, which will better integrate the critical external-facing functions of OEE, OMC and OPA,” said Jones. “While these offices regularly collaborated, working together as one team will help us raise the bar on our creativity, strategic thinking and relationships in the city, region and nationally.”
University Advancement will retain its current structure under the leadership of Tim McMahon, vice president for University Advancement.
With input from the workstreams, the university is announcing the following organizational shifts to better align related teams:
- To better serve the university’s Native American and Alaskan Native students, faculty and staff, Jacqueline Schram, director of public affairs and special assistant for Native American Affairs will join the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion to lead the office’s enhanced focus on Indigenous peoples. She will maintain a dotted reporting line to Public Affairs.
- Previously part of the Office of Public Affairs, University Special Events will join the Events Services team in the Division of Student Affairs, which better integrates the university’s special events teams for holistic, start-to-finish planning and execution of events. The newly combined events team will report to Rick Arcuri, executive director of business operations and auxiliary services.
- The Division of Student Affairs’ custodial and building services team will join the Facilities Planning and Management custodial and building maintenance teams, reporting to Mike Jahner, director of facilities management and university engineer.
These strategic, structural changes were informed by the various workstreams to increase alignment and efficiency in our structure while managing the longer-term challenges the university faces. The teams and employees are working through transition planning.