August 7, 2026
Dear Grizzlies,
It's hard to believe my first month at the University of Montana is already behind me.
Thank you for the warm welcome I've received. Everywhere I've gone, I've been met with kindness, generosity, and a sense of great pride in this University. My first month has confirmed what I believed before I arrived: this is a special place.
Beginning a new role in a new place is both exhilarating and humbling. I'm overwhelmed with excitement, and if I'm honest, I want to be moving faster. But on July 1, I started at zero. There is an enormous amount to learn before I can make the most informed decisions. Fortunately, I've joined a team at an institution with a strong foundation. That's no accident. It reflects years of diligent work by faculty, staff, students, and leaders who have built something truly remarkable.
That said, I believe a strong foundation is meant to be a launchpad, not a resting place. I believe there is tremendous runway ahead of us. The opportunities before the University of Montana are significant, and I'm eager to pursue them together.
Many people have asked what my priorities are. The honest answer is that I'm not prepared to offer a definitive list. It's a reasonable ask, but I still have a great deal of listening and learning to do. My job isn't to tell our students, our communities, or the people of Montana what they should want from the University of Montana. It's to understand what they need from us and then ensure that we organize our talent, resources, and energy to meet those needs in ways that only this University can.
I also know from experience what it's like to be on the other side of a presidential transition. I vividly remember being the person on campus wondering, Who is the new president? How does he think? What does he value? Those questions are a natural part of any leadership transition. Rather than asking you to infer the answers over time, I'd like to share how I'm approaching this work.
Below is a short list of my initial assumptions, beliefs, and inclinations. It isn't a strategic plan. It isn't a policy manual. It isn't a list of directives. It's simply an attempt to describe the lens through which I'm approaching this work today. These are the assumptions I'm carrying with me and the instincts that are shaping my thinking. They are likely to evolve as I learn more about our University, but I hope they offer some insight into how I think and the principles I expect will guide my decisions as we begin this journey together.
Thank you for everything you've done to make my first month such a positive one. I'm excited about what lies ahead, and I'm genuinely proud to be your colleague.
Go Griz,
Jeremiah
Assumptions, Beliefs, and Inclinations
- Prioritizing what best advances our mission resolves many disagreements. Serving students and serving Montana is our priority. Everything else is in service to that.
- Doing our jobs well earns us no extra credit. It's what people should expect. What sets us apart is how we make people feel. Every interaction should leave students, families, visitors, and collaborators thinking, "UM is genuinely glad I'm here."
- What we choose not to do determines our success just as much as what we choose to do. We can do anything. But we can't do everything.
- We function best when each team focuses on the work it is uniquely positioned to do. We must actively seek to reduce duplication and redundancy.
- Autonomy in decision-making and accountability for those decisions must be tightly linked. We cannot expect accountability where autonomy to make decisions has not been granted, nor should anyone expect to make decisions for which they are not primarily accountable.
- It's important to minimize the number of one-off decisions we make. Working together to develop shared intentions, frameworks, and mental models ensures that we lead consistently. Some decisions won't fit a framework. Those deserve time and space, which is exactly why building solid frameworks for everything else matters.
- Time is a fixed resource, and we must use it wisely. My default assumption is that we can have fewer meetings, smaller meetings, and shorter meetings - each with a clear purpose.
- Meetings are the time to make our preferences and opinions known. Leaving them unsaid and making them known after the meeting is not a healthy practice.
- How we deploy our resources will look different tomorrow than it did yesterday. Our environment is constantly evolving, and we cannot become too attached to what is or what once was.
- Change does not mean what we were doing before was wrong. Past work got us to this point. Honoring past work requires us to evolve it for a changing environment.
- In higher education, we can no longer afford to operate in ways that are disconnected from the world around us. The ivory tower was not built for modern times.
- Different people play different roles, and those roles will inevitably give rise to organizational tension. That's to be expected. However, even when roles are in conflict, the people playing them shouldn't be.
- Until/unless proven otherwise, we should assume that our colleagues have good intentions, are acting in good faith, and are doing the best they can.
- I don't need to be right, but I always want to get it right. Constructive, solution-oriented feedback is always welcome and appreciated.