I hope this edition of Eye on Assessment finds you with an eye on carving out some time for yourselves, family and friends to explore the promise of summertime. I am hopeful that each of you will be able to slow down, step back and find ways to regroup, whatever that may look like in your respective lives. At the same time, I recognize that a summer vacation may offer little solace to those who have experienced loss, those living with prolonged feelings of stress and anxiety, and those struggling to manage fear, frustration and anger in the face of systems perpetuating oppression and violence against minoritized communities. Each of us may have struggled in different ways over the course of the year, but there is little doubt that we have experienced, and now must find our way through processing, collective trauma. There is no doubt that we desire to continue to deliver compassionate support to meet our students' immediate and developmental needs even as the rhythm of our lives, our perceptions of self, world and others, and the ways we make meaning of our individual and collective experiences have been massively disrupted. My years of studying human development leave me pondering some pretty big questions as I think about returning to campus. My thoughts coalesce around how I have changed, how our students' developmental trajectories have been altered, and how colleagues have been affected by things they have experienced or witnessed over the course of the last year.

While Zoom was instrumental, and in some ways highly effective in accomplishing our work, for many it failed to provide an environment conducive to authentic connection, the space in which we can give and receive the kind of care and compassion humans need to make their way through difficult times. While I look forward to seeing colleagues "on the bricks", I am also struggling with the ambiguity that lies ahead. There is no tidy way to bookend these experiences. By this point in the narrative, you are rightly questioning what this has to do with strategic planning. For some of you, perhaps the answer is very little or nothing. However, from an assessment perspective, I would encourage you to consider the power of a clearly delineated strategic plan. First and foremost, it can anchor or ground our work throughout uncertain times. In doing so, it can create new and revitalize existing relationships and spaces for collaboration. As we work to accomplish a common set of objectives, we position ourselves to become better advocates for advancing a values-based approach to supporting students and staff. Clear priorities can be an impetus to letting go of programming, services, or ways of operating that may no longer be efficient or effective. It is easy to default to holding onto things that have worked before. However, it is increasingly difficult and unduly stressful to attempt to do more in a climate of increasingly limited resources. And finally, our strategic objectives and strategies draw heavily on data in orienting our collective efforts. Thoughtfully framed data-informed actions help to mitigate some of the potential stress or anxiety we may experience in working through uncertainties. This is applicable in both personal and professional life, and my hope for each of you is that you use this summer transition time as an opportunity to pause where possible, evaluate your needs and resources, and set up some intentional strategies for addressing both self-care and wellbeing, as well as focused and balanced professional efforts. As such, I would like to take this opportunity to share the strategies our Student Affairs Leadership Team has prioritized in moving forward toward achieving our objectives. It's detailed, but I hope I have convinced you to take the look!

If you have trouble accessing the link, please contact Dr. Locke at blocke@email.unc.edu

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