University Spotlight
A Message of Reassurance from the Chancellor
Dear Colleagues:
I share my best wishes for a prosperous New Year with all at Purdue Global. Your dedication and commitment to our mission motivate me in my work to help structure and position Purdue Global to meet the educational goals and dreams of even more students. And while we have much to celebrate, from time to time, we encounter critics and cynics. In particular, I refer to the Grinch responsible for the highly inaccurate and wildly misleading article published on Forbes.com right before the holidays with the headline, “Purdue Global Owes $128 Million To Its For-Profit Partner. It May Not Be Able To Pay.”
Let me simply and clearly say the financial reporting in the story is wrong. Purdue Global is financially sound and able to meet our financial obligations. I will share with you the steps we have taken in response and what you can do to help.
First, we attempted to work with Forbes to make corrections. I have sadly learned that the modern world of digital media thrives on creating controversy and clicks rather than journalistic integrity.
Thus, it is important first to ascertain whether a story is gaining traction. In this case, it did not. As such, it is best to simply ignore it.
What you can do to help: Ignore it. Please do not Google it or click on the link. You’ll note I have not shared a link with you.
Second, while the article did not gain much attention, it was noticed by the US Department of Education (US ED), the HLC (our accreditor), and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Given their responsibilities to safeguard students and Title IV funds, US ED contacted us with a set of questions. I penned a letter in response to their concerns. I share that letter with you here in full transparency. It should help you to understand how wrong this article really is.
What you can do to help: My letter to the Department is a public document. Feel free to share it with others if they have questions about the article.
Third, I directly communicated by email with key audiences my frustration with the Forbes article and shared my letter to US ED. This included the Faculty Senate and other key partners working closely with us, such as the Gardner Institute, the Gates Foundation, Guild, Ivy Tech, etc. All responded with appreciation for my candor and for clarifying the inaccuracies.
What you can do to help: Do what you do best. Stay the course in providing the best education to our students that will lead to their success. Our close partners believe in us because of your work in meeting our mission.
Finally, should you or anyone else have specific questions that my letter did not address, please send them to chancellor@purdueglobal.edu.
There’s no better time than to say, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue Global!
Purdue Global News and Updates
PGLA V1.0 Goes Live January 31
We're pleased to share a strategic component of the future of learning at Purdue Global. The Purdue Global Learning Assistant (PGLA) is an AI-powered conversational interface that students can engage with in a small sample of courses in Brightspace. PGLA version 1.0 is currently tailored to answer standard course administration questions. From course navigation to understanding the late work policy, PGLA will be a 24/7 embedded assistant to help support students in their coursework.
The PG Learning Assistant will soon be available to students, accessed through Brightspace, enrolled in selected sections of CM107, MT140, CJ100, and ED720 in the 2401C term. The scheduled launch is set for January 31, contingent upon final testing reaching a satisfactory stage by January 23rd. We will not deploy the PGLA until our testing teams, along with course leads and experts from student success, DEI, and accessibility are satisfied with the results. Post-deployment, we will be tracking several metrics to evaluate the PGLA and its impact on students and faculty, during our pilot, and will be sharing this information and conclusions broadly.
Our initial version of the PGLA has a purposely limited knowledge base that is predominantly focused on course navigation along with additional critical information to connect students to our coaching department. It is important to remember this product’s value will build over time as we add features and functions. This product, today, will certainly not be all things to all students and we will be working with our academic partners to build additional functionality in the coming months.
Additional information will be provided in the upcoming weeks, including training opportunities for faculty and information about how to submit feedback once we go live. If you have any questions, please email Sam Weber at samuel.weber1@purdueglobal.edu or Carolyn Walsh at carolyn.walsh@purdueglobal.edu.
Faculty Rank Survey Update
The Faculty Senate met and conducted a formal vote on the proposed Rank & Promotion model to determine the following: (a) Those in favor of the proposed model and wish to continue exploring it further or (b) Those in favor of revisiting this exploratory work and other options in August of 2024.
For the vote, 16/23 (70%) of the senators were present, including the Senate President who does not vote unless there is a tie. The breakdown of the voting is shown below. The results concluded that a majority of those who voted were in favor of revisiting the topic and exploring other options in August of 2024. As such, this work will take an intentional pause until August of 2024 and will be revisited again at that time.
Results:
In favor of the current model and exploring it further
5 yes
10 no
1 abstain
In favor of revisiting this topic and exploring other options in August 2024
12 yes
3 no
1 abstain
2024 Holiday Schedule
The 2024 Purdue Global holiday schedule has been updated on the HR Support section of PGNet. There you will find information on all paid time off days for this calendar year. For more information or questions, visit HR Support.
New Egencia Contact Information
Egencia, our provider for booking business travel, has two new phone numbers. Please make note of these if you will now, or in the future, be booking travel for Purdue Global business needs.
Egencia Main Number: (212) 329-7360
Egencia Meetings & Events (if travel is booked in association with a meeting): (212) 329-7243
Across the University
Call for Submissions for The Gauge Winter Issues
The Gauge is happy to announce that the call for submissions for the 2024 Winter Issues is now open and ends February 16, 2024.
For this issue, the theme is "Changing Climates" and can focus on weather/earth, mental, societal, unconventional climates, and more. Let your imagination and inspiration take the wheel and submit to one or more of the following genres:
Fiction
Microfiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Photography
The Gauge editors look forward to seeing your submission. If you have questions or would like to set up a brainstorming chat with our Creativity Coach, please email the Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Green, at BGreen@purdueglobal.edu.
Faculty Senate Meeting Recap
The Faculty Senate met on December 6, 2023, and the following items were discussed:
University Updates with Provost Jon Harbor
University-Wide Implementation of the Flex Model
Faculty Feedback: Portfolio Assessment
Rank and Progression
The meeting minutes and more information about the senate can be found on the Faculty Senate Website.
Pride ERG January Meeting: Setting the Agenda for 2024
The Pride@ Purdue Global ERG is excited to invite you to our first meeting of 2024, which will take place on Tuesday, January 11th, at noon EST via Google Meet.
Have a great idea?
Want to get more involved?
Are you passionate about inclusion and belonging?
Then attend this meeting as we are setting the agenda for 2024 and want you to be a part of it!
The Pride Month Subcommittee Roll Call!
This newly formed group seeks a dynamic and energized team responsible for organizing and promoting various initiatives to celebrate and support the LGBTQIA2S+ community at Purdue Global and beyond. Interested? Come to the meeting and learn more.
Save the Date: STEM Faculty Journal Club
The next meeting of the STEM Faculty Journal Club will be Tuesday, January 16, at 1:00 pm ET. Dr. Brad Sauls will be presenting on The Titanic: A Tragedy of Three Sisters. Check out the STEM Faculty Journal Club website for more information.
STEM Save the Date - Josh Dalessandro.pptx.pdf
Upcoming Events
Check out more information about upcoming events on the Purdue Global Calendar.
Monday, January 8
11:00 am ET
Join this Purdue Global-wide meditation session to help foster self-care to better serve your family, students, and colleagues. Meditation sessions are open to all at Purdue Global; experience is not required. Students may access the link to enter via announcements in PG411 Help! Student Success Connection.