This spring, members of the Gustavus Cabinet will write guest posts for Monday Moments. This week, I’m pleased to share thoughts from Brenda Kelly, our Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. – Becky
Hello Gusties and Happy March (almost).
I hope your semester is going well! As I begin this Monday Moments guest post, I’m happy to share with you some of the new initiatives that are emerging from Academic Affairs due to the collaborative and innovative thinking of many faculty and staff. It has been a pleasure to work on and support these and other initiatives that will benefit our current and prospective students.
First, I am very pleased that we will pilot a Summer academic term in June of 2022 and are currently identifying faculty instructors and the course offerings. My thanks goes out to the Faculty Senate for supporting this three-year pilot program and staff across the College whose work will be enhanced by this term. We hope that our faculty, students, and the community embrace this new academic opportunity. More details about this term and the course offerings will be shared later in March.
Second, some of you may already know that we received a prestigious grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The resources from the grant fall into several categories, including:
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Support for the Challenge Seminar through a summer 2022 faculty development workshop
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Support for the tenure-track faculty cluster hires in the Humanities
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Support for college-wide Regional History and Indigenous Relations work
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Support for student-faculty summer research collaborations in the Humanities and the creation of a Humanities Research lab
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Support to help create a permanent podcast studio on campus
Many individuals are involved in the work associated with this grant including Dean Dr. Elizabeth Kubek, Dr. Sarah Bridges, Dr. Laura Burrack, Dr. Ursula Lindqvist, Vice President Dr. Kathi Tunheim, Dr. Sharon Marquart, Dr. Greg Kaster, and the Research and Sponsored Programs professional staff. We thank them for their leadership and look forward to sharing with you the progress on these grant-funded initiatives.
Finally, in mid-March we will host a peer review team visit from our accrediting body, The Higher Learning Commission. This peer review team will conduct a two-day visit, gathering information about our proposed Masters in Athletic Training program. The visit will consist of a number of meetings that are focused on particular aspects of the program (i.e. the curriculum, facilities, and equipment) and may also contain a community input session. Please attend as you are invited, interested and able.
Gusties, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Russia and Ukraine, as well as to all of you who have family, friends, and colleagues in that region of the world. That being said, I remain hopeful. Hopeful for a peaceful end to conflict, hopeful that your spring semester is going well, hopeful that the weather is finally turning toward warmer days, and hopeful that our COVID-19 numbers continue to remain low and that all members of our community are respectful of choices as it relates to masking. I hope that you take steps to remain hopeful and hope-filled as we come into March.
Yours in hope,
Brenda