May 10, 2024

• Commencement – I look forward to seeing many of you next week as we celebrate our graduates. You have worked so very hard to get them to this point and as we send them off to their next steps, I know you share my pride in their achievements and my warm wishes for their next steps.
• CoMap Survey and Collaboration Survey – Earlier this week, you received an email from Sean Hughes requesting your participation in two feedback tools, CoMap and a Collaboration Survey. I know it’s a busy time, but please take a few moments to complete these surveys – it is important to have strong representation from Arts & Sciences in these data collection efforts to further W&M’s Comprehensive Campus Plan.
  • CoMap - This interactive platform empowers you to craft a map that showcases your personal experiences on campus: you can mark points, draw lines, and create shapes to convey your perspective. The maps from all participants will be synthesized to discover patterns, challenges, and opportunities to inform the plan.
  • Collaboration Survey - The Collaboration Survey is an online survey that maps internal and external collaborations at William & Mary. The survey requests department(s), primary location on campus, groups you collaborate with, and broad types of space to support that collaboration. The data will be used to map clusters of connections on campus and beyond. Survey responses are anonymous.  The survey typically takes no more than 5-10 minutes to complete. Participation from a broad range of the campus community is critical to the success of these planning efforts.
• Faculty Grants Fund – An advance reminder that the deadline for the next cycle of Faculty Grants Fund proposals is June 15, 2024. Review the invitation to apply, eligibility and restrictions, and submit your proposal.
• A final chorus of congratulations to those retiring from Arts & Sciences, and to those who received A&S faculty awards this year. Each of you impact the W&M community in so many ways, and the ripple effects of your dedication, time, energy, and scholarship are astounding. You are at the heart of a liberal arts & sciences education for our students and I remain amazed by you and grateful that you have made W&M your home.

Over the next week or so, you will find that a lot of people are moving out of their dorm rooms, moving offices, or moving aimlessly around campus (wait, the last one is cicadas, not people). They are crawling all over the big tree outside the Wren building (up to you to decide whether this is people, or cicadas). One of our colleagues who is about to move was delighted to find the label below on the door of her office.

How vacant are you - emotionally?

Have a good weekend, everyone.

best wishes, Suzanne