Welcome to the Fall Term!

Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues:

Greetings to all of you at the start of an exciting new academic year! I am deeply honored to join this extraordinary university. From my first day, I have felt the energy that makes RIT unique. Emily and I have settled into Liberty Hill, and we are feeling the warm embrace from both the campus and greater Rochester community.

Since my July 1st onboarding, I’ve begun listening tours with each college and division, governance groups, and government and community leaders. I want to find ways to meet and hear from as many of you as possible, so I will continue these during the fall term. I have also visited alumni and board of trustee members across the U.S., including in the Bay Area, Atlanta, New York City, and Rochester. I will also visit Washington D.C. in September, and our Dubai and Croatia campuses in October. I am optimistic about the work we will do together. Our university continues to be defined by the energy, dedication, and creativity of our faculty, staff, and students, and I have no doubt that the year ahead will showcase the very best of what we can accomplish together.

Despite the challenges confronting academia — and RIT is no exception — this remains an extraordinary time for our university. We anticipate more challenges in the future. Yet together, RIT is more ready than ever to lead, and to shape the future for good at this time of disruption on many fronts.

Transforming challenges and disruption into opportunities

As I told our first-year students at Convocation last week, I won’t sugarcoat the realities of today’s world. The higher education landscape is exceedingly uncertain and dynamic in new ways. Geo-political pressures, federal regulatory requirements, and a decreasing population of potential college students are among an array of issues we must respond to with deftness and a forward-thinking mindset.

These challenges are real—but they are not insurmountable. With thoughtful planning and a visionary approach, we are positioning ourselves not simply to weather uncertainty but to stay ahead of it and lead. How do we manage all of this and take advantage of the disruptions? We must transform challenges into opportunities by thinking strategically together, acting on our aspirations, being willing to make difficult choices, and being nimble. In my short time at RIT, I have seen that we do this well, as evidenced by our strong collaborative spirit and accomplishments during the last fiscal year, despite substantial challenges. RIT clearly has much to be proud of.

A few proof points:

• Enrollment: Last week, we welcomed more than 3,000 first year and transfer undergraduate students hailing from 48 states, as well as more than 500 graduate students. From my interactions with many of them, they are truly excited to be at RIT, and ready to dive in and embrace our community, learn, and innovate.
   
• Academic Affairs and Artificial Intelligence: Last fall, we launched an AI cluster hire initiative to strengthen our position as a leader in higher education’s AI landscape. I’m pleased to share that we have successfully filled 36 of these positions, underscoring our commitment to embedding AI throughout campus life with a focus on ethical and human-centered applications.
   
• Research: Thanks to our world-class faculty, we are shining. Indeed, we set a record with $105 million in new sponsored research awards during the last academic year. This includes a new record for NSF funding ($21 million) and a record year for the value of proposals submitted ($800 million).
   
• Fundraising: University Advancement achieved one of RIT’s strongest fundraising years on record, securing more than $46.8 million in new gift commitments. The Sentinel Society is approaching 1,000 members.
   
• NTID: NTID, celebrating its 60th anniversary under the leadership of new president, Caroline Solomon, continues to maintain strong Congressional and private funding support. The college has proven itself to be an investment that works, as demonstrated by the success of its graduates.
   
• Financial stability: Due to prudent fiscal planning, we are beginning the year in good financial shape. We understand this has not been painless. However, your efforts in identifying efficiencies and smart savings have made a tangible difference.

Despite the challenging circumstances and the knowledge that many peer institutions are freezing pay and laying off staff, we continue to put our people first. I am pleased to share that we prioritized the inclusion of a merit pool (albeit modest) in the FY26 budget to recognize the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff. We originally planned to make the decision whether we could implement these increases following the 21-day enrollment report. We are now pleased to accelerate the timeline and move forward with increases effective September 1. More information will be sent to campus leaders in a separate email from Human Resources, and you will receive notification of these adjustments soon.

Reinventing RIT’s future

I have found a home at RIT, a university with leading creators, makers, innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs. Our university community is on to something that is truly exceptional. I want to make sure RIT continues to be a place where all can explore boldly, fail safely, and succeed spectacularly.

We are turning our attention to the next 10 years. We are making progress on a new Strategic Framework that will update the university’s vision/mission, core values, and strategic goals. The success of this strategic planning process depends on the collective wisdom and creativity of our entire community so we may all thrive. This fall, we will engage and get feedback on our draft framework from the broader university community, including our faculty, staff, and students, shared governance groups, advisory groups, alumni, community groups, and the Board of Trustees. The goal is to have a final framework endorsed by the Board of Trustees in the spring.

Finally, I invite you to attend the upcoming President’s Welcome and State of the University Address at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 10, in Ingle Auditorium. There, I will review this past year’s accomplishments in greater detail and preview our leadership’s agenda for the coming year. I will also be available for your questions afterward in a reception at the Fireside Lounge.

Thank you all for moving this great university forward. I am honored and humbled to be your colleague.

Sincerely,

Bill

William H. Sanders
President
sanders@rit.edu