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From the Chancellor's Desk

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One System, One Purpose: Reflections from Our Listening Tour

I have always believed that something great binds us together, a purpose too big for any one campus to carry alone.

Think of our organization as a puzzle in which every piece has its place. Our values show who we are. Our missions describe what we do. Our vision points to where we are headed. Our strategy lays out how we get there. Purpose is the piece at the center, the why that holds all the others together. And a why can’t be written in a conference room and handed down. It has to be found in the people who live it every day.

Over the past several weeks, I went out to listen to many of our team members at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Dallas, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Health, and ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ System Administration. What I found was one story told in many voices. On every campus, I heard about someone who was believed in before they believed in themselves. A mentor saw what others overlooked. A door opened that could easily have stayed shut. A student arrived with one dream and left with a bigger one, then went home to lift up a family and a community. Hidden potential was uncovered, and lives were changed forever.

Our institutions have different missions and serve different people, yet the same heart beats in each of them. We meet people where they are, and we help them become who they were meant to be. We are committed to making our students’ dreams come true, and so often those dreams grow far larger along the way. Lives are changed, and so is the trajectory of entire families, for generations to come.

You were honest with me, too. You told me where we fall short: the students we haven’t reached, the silos we still have to break down, and the people who don’t yet feel fully seen. You also told me you want transparency from all of your leaders. I am grateful for that candor. It is exactly what our values of Courageous Integrity, Better Together, and We Care demand of us.

That is why this work doesn’t end with a purpose statement. When our why is clear, every other piece grows stronger: how we work together, how we support one another, and how we serve our communities with care, integrity, and transparency.

In November, we will bring our final purpose statement to the Board of Regents. It will be a defining moment, when ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ System leadership unites around a statement shaped by the very people who make our ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ community great.

To everyone who joined a listening session, completed the survey, or shared a story, a hope, or a hard truth: thank you. You reminded me that we are always better together. I left every conversation more inspired by the faculty, staff, and students of this System, and more certain of what we will accomplish as One System.

With gratitude,

Michael Williams
Chancellor

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