Action Items

1. September's Live Update Recording
   In case you missed our September live update meeting, you can watch the recording via this link or from our Bridge website.
    
2. ​​​​​Perspectives/CDI Updates (no new updates since last week):
   -Students have now been added to their Perspectives courses.
   -Mentors, please log in to Perspectives and confirm all of your Messina students have been successfully uploaded. If you find any roster issues, please email Patrick Murnane at pmurnane@loyola.edu
   -Faculty, you can opt-in to these courses if you want. If you would like to be added to your students' course, email Patrick Murnane
   
   All these notifications have come from "no-reply@constructivedialogue.org" Please check your Junk Mail if you cannot find these invites. Messina is working with both IT and CDI to ensure future notifications go to your inbox, not your junk mail.
   
   Please set aside 5 minutes of a future enrichment to make sure all students find this email so that they can do the pre-work before engaging in these Perspectives conversations.
   
   A reminder that any member of the working group can faciliate these conversations. When doing your facilitations, you can split your students into two groups if you have at least two facilitators. 

Updates & Reminders

1. Need to access something for our Enrichment Curriculum?

   All presentations, slides, & facilitation guides for our new curriculum can be found in the Working Group Teams under the "Enrichment Curriculum - Fall 2025" folder or by clicking here. 

2. Enrichment Plan Edit Form
   Speaking of our curriculum, the Enrichment Plan Edit form is now live on the Messina website under Messina Curriculum Resources. (https://www.loyola.edu/department/messina/working-groups/modules.html)

   The Enrichment Edit form should be used to inform of content updates, such as changing what module is being presented for the Curriculum Core Topics. It should also be used to provide date updates for pre-determined content, such as Course Registration.

   If a working group is switching the order of when core topics are being presented (not including pre-determined curriculum content), an Enrichment Plan Edit form is not required.

   Any member of the working group can submit the Enrichment Plan Edit form at any point in the Fall 2025 semester.

3. Module feedback form is live!
   We know that many of our curriculum modules are new or recently updated so we are seeking your feedback on how they're going! This will be a form where you can share things like "module was too short,"  "module was too long," "module lacked activities," etc. You can find it under Enrichment Planning Resources on our website or by accessing the form directly through this link. 
    
4. September's Lunch & Learn 9/26 3:30pm

   If you're curious to see how Perpsectives/CDI will play out in your enrichment or need to see it modeled then come to our first Lunch & Learn of the semester where Messina staff will be demostrating this first Perspectives facilitated discussion. This starts at 3:30pm and you should expect it to go to 5pm. Location College Center 105 - behind Starbucks. Please encourage your whole team to participate in this late day "lunch and learn." This is not something able to be recorded. There will be an additional Perspectives demo on Thursday, October 2, 3:30-5pm (room TBA) if you are unable to make this Friday's.

5. Messina Program Review Feedback

   As part of Loyola’s strategic plan and operational excellence initiatives outlined in March 2025, the Messina program underwent a comprehensive review. The purpose of this review was to clarify the program’s goals so that Student Development and Academic Affairs can better determine the appropriate staffing structures and tools needed to evaluate its effectiveness. In April, external reviewers visited Loyola to meet with key stakeholders. Loyola received their written feedback, findings, and recommendations in June. Raven Williams, Dean of Student Success, and Michael Puma, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, have been tasked with sharing the report with campus stakeholders, gathering input, and assessing the feasibility of the recommendations. Final recommendations will be submitted to Dr. Cheryl Moore-Thomas and Dr. Deb Cady Melzer to confirm a preferred approach for the continuation or refinement of the Messina structure, along with strategies to measure outcomes more effectively. The report will be presented to the Cabinet in early December
   
   Please use this form to provide written feedback about the Messina Program Review. The form will remain open until November 3, 2025, at 11:59PM.
   
   You may access the Messina Program Review Report here: LUM Messina Review 2025.pdf
   
   Please contact Raven Williams Cuffee at rdwilliams@loyola.edu or Michael Puma at mpuma@loyola.edu if you have any questions about the Messina Program Review or this feedback form.

6. Need transportation to your Messina class outing?
   A reminder that all budget and transportation requests still must be submitted via the Logistical Request Form. Please revisit the slides from the August workshop regarding Messina budgets and Workday changes when submitting your first few requests.
   Please still allow approximately 3 days notice for budget requests. Please allow approximately 30 days notice for transportation requests. Contact Patrick Murnane at pmurnane@loyola.edu if you have a trip idea that's less than 30 days out prior to submitting, 

7. Calling all readers
   Join the Common Text committee to choose the 2026-27 book! Everyone is invited: faculty, staff, students, everyone. We also want your book suggestions, no other commitment required. Suggest a book and/or join the committee by filling out the Common Text form. Please respond by Tuesday, September 30. For those who are interested in the committee: we will meet 3-4 times over the next six months, reading 3-4 books each before we make a final choice. If you like to read and talk about books, we want you!
    
8. Register now to be an Approved Motor-pool driver
   During the academic year, members of the working group may want to request to drive Loyola Motor-pool vehicles. To obtain driver clearance, you must first register by going to the following webpage: https://loyola.agilefleet.com/_UserRegistration.asp.
   
   If you already have a Agile Fleet Commander Profile, we encourage you to login and re-sign/renew the user agreement form and policies. We recommend working group members register or confirm previous registration before the start of the fall semester to ensure that you are approved to drive motor-pool vehicles before you place a Messina request. It can take up to 7 days to renew your registration. Once you are registered with motor pool you can submit a Messina Logistical Request Form to reserve your motor-pool cars (and charter buses)

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