Office of the Dean

August 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Before we turn our energies to the new academic year, I want to take a moment to again thank each of you for an incredible response when we moved to remote teaching and remote work in March. Together, we completed our spring semester and summer classes, helping our students advance their education and enabling 750 students to complete their undergraduate and graduate degrees and move their lives forward.

We now embark upon a new kind of semester. Some of us will be on campus, while others will continue to work remotely. This means there will be fewer of the moments of collegiality to which we are accustomed. The hallway conversations, meetings over coffee or lunch, will be a rarity. The College will work to offer opportunities for virtual connections this semester, and we welcome your feedback on creative ways to do so. Among the first of those events will be a virtual CLA Awards event on Thurs., Sept. 3, to recognize College award recipients from 2019-20. Watch your email for an invitation, and please join us.

Please join me as well in welcoming an exceptional group of new faculty to our College. These educators and scholars will play an important role in our ongoing success. While in-person meetings with them may be delayed for now, you can learn a bit more about each of them here.

To keep our communication lines open, I will hold Zoom office hours this semester. The schedule is set for the month of September, and you can access it here. Please note that there will be different office hours for faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates. Click the appropriate link to see the available dates/times and sign up to receive the Zoom link. I look forward to our virtual discussions.

Some of us will teach in campus classrooms, others will teach online, and even more will teach in hybrid ways that will include a bit of both. At times, it may be a particularly solitary semester. In those moments, it is important to remember that despite our different approaches, we are united in our commitment to deliver an exceptional education to our students. In this College, we take great pride in excellent teaching. Our dedication to excellence will sustain us even in these trying times.

Thank you for your dedication

Stay safe. Be well.

Sincerely,

David A. Reingold
Justin S. Morrill Dean of Liberal Arts