Editor's note: The following email was sent to the Unversity Community on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.

Dear UD Community,

It has been about a month since my last update from the Presidential Appointment Advisory Committee (PAAC), and in that time, we've seen remarkable engagement across the University community.

Through listening sessions and a community-wide survey, we received over 500 responses — a level of participation that our partners at WittKieffer describe as rare. This speaks volumes about the deep care and commitment our community has for UD. Thank you for showing up so meaningfully and providing such thoughtful input.

As you may recall, I shared the themes that emerged from this engagement in my last communication. Since then, the PAAC has spent considerable time reviewing and discussing the input received. Drawing from that feedback, we've developed this high-level distillation of the community's aspirations for our next president. This document reflects the voices of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends, and has been refined in partnership with the Board of Trustees to ensure it fully captures the spirit and priorities of our institution.

Our next step is a comprehensive assessment of our interim president, Laura Carlson, conducted in partnership with our independent advisor WittKieffer. 

This work is part of a four-month process that began in mid-August, and I'm pleased to share that we remain on schedule. While the pace has been brisk, we’ve prioritized robust dialogue and high-quality input throughout.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I will come back with additional updates. Thank you for your participation, and I look forward to sharing additional information in the weeks ahead as we move closer to a Board decision in December.

Warm regards,
Terri Kelly, Chair, University of Delaware Board of Trustees