The ECoNA Q&A: NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera

José Luis Cruz Rivera recently completed his first year as the 17th President of Northern Arizona University (NAU). To mark this anniversary, we asked him about key initiatives during his first year, NAU’s niche in the higher ed marketplace, what local restaurants he’s discovered, and his upcoming formal installation in September. You can see the full interview here.

Q: What do you feel your biggest success has been this first year?

A: Well, that’s an easy answer. The fact that I survived the Running of the Freshman at the first home football game!

In all seriousness, while there have been many success stories, I think my biggest success has been learning about and connecting with the people and organizations who live and work at NAU, in Flagstaff and throughout northern Arizona. It has been important to me from day one to understand the values here. Time will be the judge of my success leading and supporting the efforts of our awesome university community, but I have truly enjoyed listening and learning and still feel it is a privilege to serve as the President of NAU and live is this amazing and beautiful community.

NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera with his wife, NAU Anthropology Professor Rima Brusi.

Q: What do you feel is NAU’s niche in the Arizona public higher ed marketplace?

A: Our niche is providing students from Arizona and beyond with an excellent, student-centric education of unrivaled value! In fact, we are determined to be a national leader in the delivery of equitable postsecondary value, by demonstrating how innovative educational programs can ensure all Arizonans—regardless of background—have an opportunity to contribute to and benefit from the state’s sustained economic growth. A2E is an example of programing focused on equitable value.

By dramatically increasing our contributions to the number of Arizona residents with high-quality postsecondary degrees and certificates, NAU will help reduce unemployment and underemployment, increase wages, bolster civic engagement and voter participation, advance equity and justice, and improve physical and mental health, while enhancing the social well-being and the economic competitiveness of the state.

Q: As one of the region’s largest employers, how has NAU workplace initiatives had an impact on employee morale and retention?

A: Our recent changes to workplace policies and practices have been the product of much hard work and thoughtful input from many in our NAU community on how we can re-envision our practices to ensure that NAU is a truly exceptional place to work. We are determined to put our people first and be a leading institution of higher education in hybrid and remote work practices – all while maintaining and enhancing the quality and beneficial impact of our services for our students.

The New NAU Workplace has three core initiatives:

• Adopting a hybrid-first approach
• Adopting core business hours and a flexible schedule
• Implementing True Blue Summer Fridays

The New NAU Workplace also includes support for the communities we live and work in. NAU has instituted 16-hour annual community engagement time policy for our employees, allowing them to give back and volunteer meaningfully in their community…and we’re working to similarly enhance our student volunteerism.

While we have much more to do, on my walks to and from work and in emails, I have heard from employees that they feel the work they do is recognized and important, that they are valued, and that the university supports their wellbeing – and that’s exactly the culture we want to have among our NAU community.

Check out the full interview here.

Sincerely,

Gail Jackson

President & CEO

Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona