8.16.24

Dear Faculty and Staff —

Welcome to a new academic year at UIS and to our newest faculty and staff colleagues. I know many of us are embracing Fall semester with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and excitement, and I hope this year is both personally and professionally fulfilling for each of you as you seize every opportunity to make a difference in our students’ lives.

While this is certainly an exciting time, we are starting the new semester following a challenging and heartbreaking summer for our community. As many of you know, the Springfield community experienced a devasting tragedy this summer with the death of Sonya Massey, who was killed in her home July 6. A Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Many in our community are hurting from this unfathomable event, and I join you all in grieving with the friends and family of Ms. Massey. If you, your colleagues or your students are struggling, please remember to utilize the resources we have available for navigating difficult circumstances, including our Employee Assistance Program for employees and the UIS Counseling Center for students. 

As Springfield’s public university, we have an opportunity and responsibility to be part of the conversations occurring within our community and to contribute to spaces for dialogue, healing and positive change. I am proud of those who already have stepped in to assist our neighbors, and I am confident that support will continue. Our university values continue to guide us to ensure UIS is a student-focused university where individuals conduct themselves with integrity, seek to understand the world around them, build meaningful relationships and affect change through civic engagement, embrace diversity in all its forms, think strategically and hold ourselves accountable to one another and our community. 

Please take care of yourselves and each other.

Best wishes for the year ahead,

Janet

Janet L. Gooch, PhD

Chancellor

University of Illinois Springfield