February 12, 2024

Dear colleagues,

Between the excitement of a fun weekend of William & Mary pride and the good news about our Early Decision application numbers, the energy on our campus is palpable. Charter Day 2024 was a very special opportunity for our community to gather, reflect and celebrate our shared history. In his remarks, Secretary Bunch reflected on the nature of history and the work of a historian, sharing the impact of deep, meaningful efforts to understand what we want to remember and what we need to remember. I was touched by his reminder of the power of history, and I look forward to this conversation continuing as the semester progresses. Those who were unable to attend may watch the full ceremony online.

Here are the Top 5 Things to Know this week:

Dr. Stephanie Caligiur is speaking on Feeding the Synapses: Nutritional Strategies for a Resilient Mind in the Entrepreneurship Hub this Thursday, Feb. 15, from 3-5 p.m. This appearance is one in the Research in Progress: STEM Talks Seminar Series, which is an opportunity for early-career faculty in A&S to share novel research. The discussions in this series, sponsored by my office alongside Arts & Sciences, focus on preliminary data and provide a space for faculty to learn about ongoing research projects across disciplines. Please RSVP if you’d like to attend.
Finalists will present virtually three proposals for W&M’s next Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) on Thursday, Feb. 22 from 1-3 p.m.; please feel free to join the presentation to watch. As part of W&M’s accreditation reaffirmation with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the QEP is a five-year initiative focused on improving student learning outcomes and/or student success. This involves identifying the topic for the QEP, so groups of faculty and staff submitted topics in October 2023. The Executive Leadership Team and the Reaffirmation Leadership Team evaluated the submissions for alignment with Vision 2026 and the SACSCOC QEP Evaluation Rubric. Recordings of the presentations will also be available on the Institutional Accreditation & Effectiveness QEP webpage. After the presentations conclude, feedback surveys will be available on the QEP website through Feb. 29.
The Amplifying W&M Summer Programs initiative supports program delivery and explores the potential to increase summer enrollment while enhancing the benefit to the academic units from which these programs originate. Program leaders are working to develop and test concepts by this summer and identify future growth opportunities. The team is engaging faculty, staff, and students to share their experiences and needs related to summer programs, and to join in ideation and concept feedback. For more info or to share your perspective, please contact the project team, which includes Graham Henshaw, Josh Burk and Roxane Adler-Hickey.
The Working Together initiative is hosting a panel presentation and discussion “Data Privacy: the AI challenge for educating in the digital age” in Swem Library’s Ford Classroom on Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 1-2 p.m. The group of W&M experts will talk about what data privacy looks like on college campuses, considerations when teaching and where the responsibility lies for privacy and security. The event is sponsored by W&M Libraries, the Studio for Teaching & Learning Innovation, Information Technology and the Provost’s Office. If you’re interested in attending, please RSVP.
This week’s shout-out goes to the countless volunteers who helped make the Charter Day celebrations happen. Hours of behind-the-scenes work go into planning, preparing and executing the celebration to make sure the community can enjoy it all. The event was a huge success, from the ceremony honoring Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and former Rector Jeffrey B. Trammell ’73 to seeing students let loose at the Green & Gold Bash and the collective joy filling the air all weekend. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen, and to those who came out to enjoy it.