Fall Message from the Vice Dean
Welcome from Christopher Carone, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Arts & Sciences.
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to William & Mary, to graduate studies in Arts & Sciences, and to our community of scholars and teachers. Allow me to begin by telling you a little about yourselves as a group.
You are among a competitive, select set of students. Most of you already have significant research experiences under your belt, and many of you have been active teachers and mentors. You will, of course, have many more such opportunities in the coming years. Your experience and your diverse interests, hobbies, and backgrounds are an important part of what makes our graduate program distinctive. We are a dynamic group of scholar-teachers striving for excellence in all of our endeavors.
While you are here we want you to immerse yourself fully in your studies and teaching. Make use of every resource, from the expertise and wisdom of your faculty to the professional development opportunities offered through the A&S Graduate Center (our GRAD courses, in particular), through the activities offered by the Graduate Student Association for Arts & Sciences (Journal Club, in particular), through programming with the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement, and through programming with the W&M Libraries staff in the Graduate Student Commons in Swem Library. My goal as Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Studies is to provide you with an enriching, nurturing, and challenging environment that will prepare you for future success.
As you look ahead, I encourage you to be mindful of the professional opportunities we provide as well as the possibility for recognition for outstanding efforts in research, mentoring, leadership, and service. These include:
- A variety of research funding opportunities and a conference funds program through the GSA to facilitate and enhance your scholarship;
- Sanderson Graduate Student Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring, in recognition of A&S graduate students who provide outstanding undergraduate mentoring in scholarship and research outside of classroom teaching;
- The A&S Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award, which allows you to recognize a member of the A&S faculty who is adept within the broad spectrum of activities that makes up graduate mentoring;
- A variety of Awards for Excellence in Research, including the Carl J. Strikwerda Awards for Excellence in Research;
- Distinguished Thesis and Distinguished Dissertation Awards;
- and the university-wide Thatcher Prize for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Study given each May at Commencement.
The generous and supportive members of the Graduate Studies Advisory Board have provided the funding of the awards available exclusively to graduate students and their faculty in Arts & Sciences.
If you receive a prestigious external prize, award, or fellowship, please let me know and we will work to secure a William & Mary A&S Graduate News story to further publicize such a major accomplishment. I delight in seeing stories that feature Arts & Sciences graduate students on the William & Mary home page. Publicizing your academic achievements brings broader recognition to you for your accomplishments, and also helps us attract more support for you, your graduate program, and future Arts & Sciences graduate students.
As you will quickly come to know, our academic community is friendly and informal – you can seek guidance and advice from anyone on campus – and in this spirit I encourage you to contact me if you think there are ways we can improve your graduate experience. [[pmvish,Professor Peter Vishton]] serves as your Graduate Ombudsperson, and can be contacted for consultation should you encounter any situations for which you seek advice or help.
I look forward to working with you over the coming years.
Chris Carone
Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies
