1.9.26

Dear Faculty and Staff —

I am excited to share with you details about this year’s RISE Professional Development Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 6.

This is the fourth RISE retreat—an event planned by a group of UIS faculty and staff that encourages us to briefly step away from our day-to-day responsibilities and come together to learn how to build a stronger university community through personal and professional development opportunities. Our 2026 retreat will introduce and support the CARE Framework, a university-wide approach focused on supporting a culture of care and strengthening student-centered practices in our efforts to provide exceptional service to students and visitors as well as to one another as colleagues.

The CARE Framework is the result of some exceptional work produced by a cross-sectional group of faculty and staff who explored the question, “What should excellent service look like at UIS?” Following many months of research and discussion, the committee recommended CARE:

• Communication
• Action
• Respect
• Empathy

More information on CARE will be shared this semester, with the Feb. 6 retreat intended to be a launching pad for this important initiative. I hope you will join us.

Workshops will be offered both in the morning and afternoon for flexible scheduling, with an exciting keynote address from organizational psychologist Dr. Celina Peerman during a shared lunch experience. Following Dr. Peerman’s address, she will join me for a Chancellor’s Thinkers Series discussion on: “A Call to Think: How CARE Shapes Learning and Leadership.”

Full details about the available sessions are on Orbit. Register by Jan. 23 to share in this engaging and meaningful experience!

Janet

Janet L. Gooch, Ph.D.

Chancellor

University of Illinois Springfield