March 25, 2024

Dear colleagues,

Today, the Center for Comparative Legal Studies & Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, The Reves Center, and the National Center for State Courts hosted the Climate and Conflict Symposium at our Law School. Highlighting the critical intersection between climate change and armed conflicts, which researchers find affects up to 20% of conflicts, this event underscores an urgent global issue. Alissa Johannsen Rubin, Senior International Correspondent for the New York Times, shared insights on international peace, emphasizing a skill we all share and cherish: the power of asking questions. It's a reminder of the curious and inquiring spirit that defines us at William & Mary.

Here are the Top Five Things to Know this week:

Tomorrow is One Tribe One Day. After last year’s success — over 700 of you participated — the faculty and staff challenge is back. This year, make a gift of any size to any area at W&M and it will be matched with a gift of 11 times the amount to the Fund for W&M. For gifts of $10 or more, you will receive exclusive W&M stickers. OTOD event highlights include the Battle of the Brains: Students vs. Deans trivia event at noon in Commonwealth Auditorium, and the One Tribe One Day Carnival in the Sunken Garden from 4-6 p.m. with free food, music, inflatables, high-speed swings, a surfboard ride and more. To cap off the day is a celebration at the Virginia Beer Company from 6-8 p.m. Visit One Tribe One Day for more information.
The Office of Compliance & Equity is looking for faculty and staff members interested in learning more about how to support students and employees involved in W&M’s Title IX & Discrimination formal complaint processes. There’s no commitment to service necessary; just a willingness to learn and support a safe and responsive campus community. To participate, I encourage you to join the Advisor Workshop for hands-on training for the investigation and determination processes. Please RSVP to attend from 3-4 p.m. on either March 29 or April 4.
I encourage interested faculty to apply to lead summer study abroad programs for summer 2025. The Arts & Sciences International Studies Advisory Committee and the Global Education Office at the Reves Center are currently accepting applications until April 1. Proposed courses should be linked to the local or regional setting of the program, but are not generally restricted to any given discipline. Programs may have specific themes or features. Find the list of cities ranging from Adelaide to Vilnius and apply online.
Faculty Assembly has launched the 2024 Faculty Survey, and asks that members make their voices heard. The survey provides an opportunity for instructional faculty to share levels of satisfaction across a broad array of topics. All instructional faculty recently received a link to the survey through their William & Mary email. If you have not received a link, please contact Brett Wilson. The deadline to submit your survey has been extended to Friday, March 29.
This week’s shout out goes to all involved in the Graduate & Honors Research Symposium that took place last week. The symposium spotlights the remarkable research taking place across A&S, VIMS and other regional institutions, as well as the collaborative work between students and faculty happening every day. This year’s theme, “Connections,” highlighted research that represented the university’s ampersand and the value of liberal arts & sciences education in facilitating dialogue between diverse disciplines.

Thank you for the time and effort spent submitting midterm grades this month. While there remains an opportunity for further improvement, I was thrilled to see impressively high participation rates (over 89%) in several subjects: Linguistics, GIS, Theatre, Sociology, Mathematics, Art & Art History, Chemistry and Psychology. I appreciate the commitment to students and their success.