Spring 2017

I hope you are all enjoying your MLK holiday. I read Dr. King’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” this morning, and it is just as inspiring today as it was more than 50 years ago. It’s a new semester, and we should all be inspired as we begin a new semester.

We call this spring semester, but it looks very snowy as I write this. In Minnesota, actual spring is victory in a battle fought through our long wintry months. Actual spring is a time of growth and renewal, a time of creation and creativity, a time of beauty and joy. And even though it might seem like a stretch, we can see those “actual spring” attributes here in UGE, even at the beginning of spring semester, even if it is snowing.

Let’s name a few:

• Every spring we recruit a new class of students. What could be a surer sign of renewal?
• Every spring we graduate and send out into the world a new cohort of alumni. They are a joy for us and their families.
• Our Career Readiness Initiative is going live this spring after months of preparation by dozens of UGE staff. We are growing our programming through creative collaborations.
• This spring we are devising strategies to help our international students feel at home and be successful: UGE creativity at work!
• This spring we are launching new processes for scholarships and class search. It takes a real nerd to see an elegant process as a thing of beauty, but hey, I’m a nerd.
• Do you have any idea how many babies we’re expecting in UGE this spring? Creation, Renewal, Beauty, and Joy (and more than a few nights of lost sleep). #FutureGopher

This spring semester will also be my last as an associate dean. This was my own decision, and I am very pleased to be returning to the faculty this summer after nearly ten years in Johnston Hall, but it is a bittersweet moment as well. (Note: A friend of mine proclaims the 3:10 rule of academic administration: it takes three years to learn your job, and after ten years you are part of the problem.) Most faculty really don’t have a clue what goes on in CLA administration and student services; I know I certainly didn’t. Now that I do have that clue, I can say that my biggest regret about stepping down as associate dean will be the loss of day to day interaction with all of you in UGE and CLA administration. You guys are great. You don’t get the headlines, but you make it possible for our students to get the headlines, and I’m proud that you’re my team.

That was getting a little maudlin, so let’s pick up the tempo before I close. I am energized by what we can accomplish this semester. On top of all of the many day-to-day things that we do, by commencement this spring we will have:

• Rolled out Career Readiness and be receiving our first student feedback.
• Worked through our first recruiting cycle with our new transfer team and have plans for regularizing the Transfer Semester Experience. 
• Hired a new director of diversity, equity, and access and be working on new programming to support our students.

That should be enough to brighten anyone’s day. Peace, and have a good semester.