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Hello friends,

We are wending our way into October, and toward the middle of the semester. I don’t hear the word “wend” often, but I enjoy this definition: “If you wend your way in a particular direction, you walk, especially slowly, casually, or carefully, in that direction.”

Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it? But it can be helpful to slow down a bit here and there, even amid an increasingly busy semester. And if you’re wending your way through campus and see me, please say hello or give me a knowing smile and wave. I, too, may be wending.

Some key updates and reminders for you this week:

• New Dean announced for SCDSP: I am thrilled with the announcement yesterday of Douglas “Doug” Schmidt ’84, M.A. ’86 as the new Dean of the School of Computing, Data Science & Physics, set to launch in fall 2025. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Dean Schmidt during his time on campus. He is an exceptional leader, and I look forward to working closely with him as a partner and colleague as we navigate the launch of the new school.
• Corrected consolidated call for professorships and awards: Please see the attached Consolidated Call for Professorships and Awards with a corrected date on page 3: term distinguished professorships for associate professors. The correct date for nomination submission to the provost for this category is November 11, 2024.
• Comprehensive plan – your input is needed: What is a comprehensive plan? I’m glad you asked. It is “a living document that guides the use and objectives of W&M’s campuses and their future and current transformations.” It is about places and spaces. This impacts all of us and it’s important to provide input in the planning process. You can get involved in several ways:
  • Review the analysis conducted by Sasaki, our consultants, especially the shared principles and learning spaces analysis. Arts & Sciences faculty are represented on the Learning Spaces Committee by Brian Kreydatus, Margaret Saha, and Dan Runfola. (Thank you, Brian, Margaret and Dan, for your service!) 
  • Share Your Input (closing soon!)
    • Complete the Teaching & Learning Survey. This survey assesses the utilization and design of classrooms and other learning spaces - how these spaces support your teaching today and how they could better serve your needs in the future - to inform future planning. The survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes, and your responses will be anonymous.
    •  Complete the Collaboration Survey. This effort aims to uncover broad collaboration patterns to inform better campus adjacencies, potential space moves, and interdisciplinary facilities. The survey typically takes no more than 5-10 minutes to complete.
  • Attend the Fall Forums and join in discussing the findings and community aspirations for teaching & learning. View a complete list of topics and dates.
• Advising period: The advising period, October 21-November 1, is quickly approaching. This is a vital time for advisors to proactively support their undergraduate students' academic progress by reviewing midterm grades to assess where students may need additional support or guidance, discussing withdrawal deadlines, and assisting students in planning spring courses. I am grateful to our faculty advisors for their hard work and dedication to our students.
• Student Absence Protocols: Please be aware of the protocols regarding student absences.  Student Affairs does not approve class absences. Care Support Services will only contact a faculty member on a student's behalf in the following situations:
  • Hospitalization
  • Concussion
  • Death of an immediate family member

• Applications for A&S Vice Dean for Research & Graduate Studies: On September 22, I sent out the call for applications for this position. The position closes on October 23. As you may know, Chris Carone is stepping down from this position effective December 31, 2024. I am grateful for his dedicated and creative service and look forward to continuing to work with him throughout the fall semester. We are now searching for a new Vice Dean for Research & Graduate Studies, starting January 1, 2025, for a seven-semester term (see attached job posting and position description). I welcome applications from tenured faculty in an A&S academic unit with a graduate program which is not moving to the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics. Apply by October 23 at William & Mary | Arts & Sciences Vice Dean for Research & Graduate Studies (wm.edu).

Last night, we celebrated the tenure and promotion during 2023-24 of seven incredibly talented associate professors, and ten amazing full professors (one of whom was a new hire from another country far across the waves, but well worth visiting. English speakers will feel at home there). 

In preparing my remarks for this dinner, I was reminded of the multitude of research endeavors that are happening on our campus and far afield. I've already told you about the tiny tadpoles that help us understand neurogenesis. Now it is time to tell you about all manner of other things, including noncommutative geometry, risk factors for substance abuse, the aural and the visual in nineteenth-century aesthetics, computer microarchitecture, American politics and the carceral state, the influence of non-state actors on government actions, the economic impact of global development programs, Francophone societies in the Indian Ocean, sumoylation, the impact of human actions on species of concern, chemical tools as therapeutic agents, the ways that archival practices shaped the development of the early modern state, the relationship between Chinese and Arabic cultures, squeezed light, performances at heritage sites, Chinese diaspora dance, health promotion in higher education, and gay culture in Florida. (Don't worry, those aren't the research interests of a single faculty member, though some of the colleagues we honored last night - whose interests this list represents - are pretty intimidating). Plus, don't tell me science and the arts are separate disciplines. Squeezed light? That's poetry.

Goodbye, little tadpole, and goodbye, A&S faculty and staff. Have a great weekend.

Best wishes, Suzanne