On Elephants

Elephants figure large (ba dum boom, ching!) in English idiom.

• The elephant in the room.
• Seeing the elephant.
• Blind men and an elephant.
• White elephants.
• Pink elephants.
• When the elephant dances.
• Elephants never forget.

Elephants are large, expensive, complicated, dangerous, gentle, magnificent, social, intelligent, and most assuredly non-ignorable. Sometimes other colleges at the U think of CLA as an elephant, some days beating out a trail for others to follow, and other days blundering around (see dancing elephants and mice).

Here in UGE we have a baby elephant of our own: the Career Readiness Initiative. It’s new. It’s complex. It’s going to grow into something huge and be pretty expensive. You can no longer ignore it. It’s going to establish or widen some paths in CLA, and we think it’s going to be a wonder and magnificent when it is fully grown.

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.

Outstanding Service Awards

Just before winter break, we learned that not one, not two, not three, but four (count em, four!) UGE colleagues were awarded Outstanding Service Awards.

Schedule Builder

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Seriously, this is how I found out that our very own Schedule Builder was going to be expanded to include an improved class search.

Senior Celebration

The Senior Celebration was on Sunday, December 11. The weather was a bit iffy, but we still had a good turnout of students and families.

Dean's Freshman Research and Creative Scholars Reception

Monday, December 5 was our day to recognize our 2015-16 Dean’s Freshman Research and Creative Scholars program student scholars, thank the many wonderful faculty who mentored them, and inspire the 2016-17 scholars to dive into their projects, reach outside their comfort zones, and do great things.

We are UGE

The t-shirts we give incoming students are emblazoned with “WE ARE LIBERAL ARTS.” It’s proud; it’s unapologetic; it’s in your face. I like it. In the process of trying to create an “annual report” for the Office of Undergraduate Education, I had to come to grips with who were are in UGE, and come to grips with it in such a way that I can explain to outsiders who we are and what we do. It took me seven pages to list our primary areas along with brief explanations what we do in those areas and how many people work in those areas.