November 10, 2023
Dear all,
Oops, almost forgot about my message this week. But here it is, in your mailboxes, faithful as always. This week, I’m mostly drawing your attention to announcements from elsewhere, and sharing information that has been shared with, plus a few updates, and then of course, below the you know what.
- Update on search for the A&S Senior Associate Dean for Finance & Administration: As you all know by now, we will sadly be saying goodbye to Sherri Powers when she retires in February 2024. The search for her replacement is currently underway, with longlist interviews taking place this week and next. I am grateful to Rob Hinkle, Vice-Dean of Natural, Computational & Physical Sciences, for chairing the search committee; to Omiyemi Green (Professor, Theater & Dance/Africana Studies), Jacob Long (Assistant Vice President for Budget & Financial Planning), Susan Mulholland (Financial Operations Manager, Mason School of Business – formerly in A&S), Debbie Ratliff (Senior Director of Talent Engagement, Advancement) and Blanca Tyler (Administrative & Financial Coordinator, Modern Languages) for serving as members of the search committee; and to Erica MacLeod for providing administrative support for the search. We hope to have Sherri’s replacement in position by January 2024 so that they can overlap with Sherri for a month or two as they learn the ropes (and there are a lot of ropes). The search for the Executive Director of the Arts Quarter proceeds also; as does the search for the next Vice-Dean of Arts, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies.
- Proposed new Carnegie classification with implications for W&M (currently R2: see this article in Inside Higher Ed for more information; and also this, from the Carnegie Foundation itself.
- Relevant pre-reads for the Board of Visitors: The BOV is meeting on Thursday and Friday of this coming week, and I thought you might be interested to see the following pre-reads and related documents. BOV meetings are open to all (unless there is a closed session) and you can find the schedule on their webpage.
- New school of Data Science, Applied Science, Computer Science & Physics: pre-read attached resolution (pdf). If the link doesn’t work, go to the BOV website and look for the November meeting, then click on Academic Affairs.
- Process for revision of the Faculty Handbook (pdf) (and linked on BOV Academic Affairs website)
- Enrollment projections: please view the attachment (pdf) with headcount projections for enrolled undergraduate students, 2023-26. The availability of this data – which, I should emphasize, is a projection – really helps us plan ahead, and I’m grateful to have it.
And now….
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I missed Halloween (though how could I have? I lived through October 31, 2023) so in a vain attempt to recapture the magic, I offer you these images. You all need to stop telling me you like the Queen stuff.
And here is one from when she was little:
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Suzanne Raitt
Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Chancellor Professor of English
Pronouns: she/her/hers
