Faculty & Staff February Update

On this page, you will find the March 5, 2026 communication from President Dr. Lisa Lambert.
Faculty & Staff February Update
By Lisa Lambert / 5 March 2026
 
Hi everyone,
 
I apologize for the delay in the February newsletter. The Middle States Accreditation visitors are arriving this Sunday (March 8) and we’ve been very busy with the preparations.

Middle States - This is Our Accreditation Year!

While many, many people have contributed, I want to give special thanks to the Steering Committee, Matt Redinger, Bill Campbell, and Melissa Bell, as well as to the Academic Affairs staff, especially Sean Nonnemacher and Dacia Pross. In addition to coordinating the preparation of our report, their monumental task included organizing multiple, simultaneous schedules and preparing over 1000 pieces of evidence.
 
As a reminder, the final report is on myChatham (linked here).
 
Calendar notices have already been sent to those with whom the visitors need to meet. The Middle States visiting team will deliver an oral report to the entire campus on Wednesday, March 11 at 10:00 a.m. in Mellon Board Room (more reminders will be sent next week). Unfortunately, it cannot be broadcast or recorded (their rules, not ours).

Budget Updates

The Eastside sale-and-leaseback talks are still proceeding very well, but we have no new updates to report at this time. As of Monday, March 2, first-year undergraduate deposits were up 50% over this point in time last year! Graduate deposits are also up, but at a more moderate 9%. We had another large and enthusiastic Accepted Student Day event on February 21. Thank you to everyone who helped. These days are so essential to recruiting: your efforts make all the difference.
 
At the Board meeting on February 13, we presented an update on our finances and our preliminary plans for the upcoming year. Once again, the Board expressed support for increasing the salary pool for employees. I will share more about our plans for the salary pool at the March Community Update.

Campus Community and Environment

Welcome to the newest full-time members of the Chatham community!
  •  Jon Ramsey, Undergraduate Admissions Counselor
  • Timothy Cross, Interim Vice President for Advancement

Athletics

Kudos to all of our winter teams for an exciting season. I especially want to congratulate our teams and coaches in men’s hockey, and in men’s and women’s basketball, who all made the conference semi-finals this year. Special recognition to Hannah Uhrinek who won the 100-yard butterfly at the PAC swimming and diving championships.
 
Good luck to our spring sports teams!
 

Advancement

Under the new, interim leadership of Tim Cross, the Advancement Team launched the first-ever “Love a Donor Day,” where we reached out and thanked our alumni and friends for their support of Chatham. Thank you all who made calls and signed cards to help our donors know what a difference their support makes.

LinkedIn Learning

I’d like to remind everyone of the availability of the FREE LinkedIn Learning modules, as announced in the fall. “LinkedIn Learning offers something for everyone, whether you’re interested in enhancing your professional skills, learning new software, exploring leadership development, or simply pursuing a personal passion.” You can log in to LinkedIn Learning through this link.

 

Events and News

Copies of this, as well as past newsletters, are available on the “From the President” page on chatham.edu (so you don’t have to search through your emails!)
 
Please remember to read and submit your accomplishments and ideas for stories to the Pulse- we all want to hear about the great things you are doing! Here’s the link to submit your news: https://www.pulse.chatham.edu/contact. If you want to cc my office, our email is presidentsoffice@chatham.edu.  
 
Thank you, and stay safe (and dry!)
 
Lisa