August 4, 2023

Summary

It seems that I did not actually do what I planned and announced - that is, send a Friday message every two weeks over the summer. What a relief for you all! Unfortunately for you, I have now remembered my original intention so here I am. I hope you all are having productive, relaxing and enjoyable summers, not necessarily in that order. I have been in the land where cookies are called biscuits, beer is drunk warm, and the sea-water is cold and salty. (OK, that could be a number of places). Here are some updates, in no particular order, about other goings-on over the summer. Then, read below the line if you dare.

Full Description

Dear A&S faculty and staff,

Faculty Meeting and Party on September 5th The first meeting of the Faculty of A&S is on September 5th, 3:30-5, and it will be followed by a welcome-back celebration. Mark your calendars!

Salary letters You can expect to receive your salary letter for 2023-24 near the end of August. As you may know, VA has not yet adopted a budget for FY24 so the state continues to operate on the basis of the biennial budget passed last year, which includes a salary raise pool of 5%. More information will be forthcoming nearer the time on how raises were determined.

Training for new researchers The Office of Sponsored Programs is holding a training for new PIs and researchers (and those who would like a refresher) on Thursday August 24th, 2-3:30, Chancellors 322. Topics covered will include: Functions of the Office of Sponsored Programs, Common Parts of a Proposal, Budgeting, and Proposal Timeline. This is for everyone: all proposals for external grant moneys, including fellowships, should be routed via OSP for support and tracking purposes. Please register for the training using this link.

Computing, Data, Applied Sciences & Physics Initiative At the meeting, the Provost will have a conversation with us about the new academic entity for Computing, Data, Applied Sciences and probably Physics. Thanks to those of you who submitted feedback via the online form we sent out. All that feedback is now with the Provost.

New Arts Buildings The Music and Theater buildings are progressing apace, but alas, not even a temporary certificate of occupancy yet. The delay is bureaucratic, mystifying and frustrating. We'll get it very soon, but we don't have it yet. Still, you can walk or drive past and look yearningly towards the glass, the lights and the bricks.

Moves Music has already moved out of Ewell, so the non-Dean side sits waiting for its new people. We're delighted to have found great space in there for our new Graduate Center, the Office of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, and some swing offices for Computer Science until ISC4 is completed.

New faculty colleagues On August 10, we welcome over 50 new faculty colleagues to campus. If one or more of them are in your department or program, please give them a warm welcome. (Actually, even if they're not, please give them a warm welcome.) The celebration on September 5th will be a chance to get to know them.

New comprehensive campus plan The President has started a process to create a new plan for space (including buildings) on campus, called the Campus Comprehensive Plan. I am on the Campus Comprehensive Planning Committee, and we have already started to meet. In addition, there are three sub/related committees, one for Learning Spaces, another for Landscape Planning, and a third for Housing & Dining Facilities. I am looking forward to representing A&S as we plan for improvements.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

There's a lot above the line, so we'll just have a little bit below it. This is a picture from my holiday. I did not like my horse.

That's all.

Suzanne

Suzanne Raitt

Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Chancellor Professor of English

Pronouns: she/her/hers