August 28, 2023

Dear colleagues,

Welcome – and welcome back! The excitement of a new academic year is upon us and I hope to see many of you at our Opening Convocation ceremony this Wednesday, Aug. 30, where we will welcome our new and returning students, and hear remarks from Carolyn ‘Biddy’ Martin ‘73, L.H.D. ‘12. This annual tradition truly is one of my favorite experiences at William & Mary. The energy is infectious, and it’s a delight to see the new members of our community walk through the Wren building as they embark on their academic careers.

For those unacquainted with the communications cadence from my office, you can expect a weekly message from me on Mondays during the academic year, with the Top 5 Things to Know for the week. The objective is to identify at a glance topics of significant and timely interest to our faculty.

Without further ado, here are the first Top 5 for the new academic year:

I am excited to welcome 70 new faculty members to campus this year. With new faces in each of our colleges bringing expertise to our classrooms, labs, community and the world beyond our campus, this year is sure to deepen our impact as faculty and expand the reach of our work. Many members of this cohort have already benefited from orientations to help connect to campus resources, but I look forward to further getting to know you at our annual new faculty orientation, taking place on Thursday, Sept. 21 in Blow 201. I encourage returning faculty to welcome your new colleagues with a spirit of joy and collaboration as they become more acquainted with our very special W&M community.
There are also new members of the leadership team in the Office of the Provost, including Adam Barger, Executive Director of the Studio for Teaching and Learning Innovation (STLI), Alana Davis, Associate Provost and University Registrar, and Graham Henshaw, Assistant Provost for Entrepreneurship. This last role is a new position within my office that expands the support and development for entrepreneurship and innovation across the university. I look forward to working with each of these new team members this year.
This Friday, Sept. 1, W&M will hold our annual faculty meeting from 3:30–5 p.m. in Tucker 127A. This is an excellent opportunity to catch up with colleagues, and hear from me on research support for faculty, managing academic stress and updates on the Washington Center in D.C., amongst other topics. Following that meeting, I hope that you are able to come by and stay for the picnic at 5 p.m. where we’ll have some delicious food and share in the excitement of a new academic year.
On Tuesday Sept. 5, 3:30-5 p.m. in Tucker 127A, I look forward to providing A&S faculty with an update on the next steps of the Computing, Data Science & Applied Science Initiative. During that time, I’ll give an overview of where we are with data collection, field questions and welcome your feedback. I will also be joining the first Faculty Assembly meeting on Sept. 26 to discuss the same; I will share details on time and location closer to the date.
The first shout-out of the year goes to the collaborative efforts among students and faculty engaging with W&M data, particularly these students who created dashboards based on enrollment trends. I am deeply appreciative of the amount of work that went into creating them, and hope the community will share similar efforts as the year progresses.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Faculty Subcommittee of the Suicide Prevention Coalition, who shared resources for you and our students to support mental and physical well-being, as well as useful syllabi template language (copied below). In discussions with students related to academic stress and wellness we have learned how important the role of faculty is in relation to their experience in the classroom. I appreciate the generosity of time and attention you each give to our students’ wellbeing. As we are off to start a new semester, please also prioritize your own health and wellness.

With that in mind, a reminder as we all come back together on campus that information and resources are available related to COVID, should you be in need. You’ll note these coincide with those available for other major communicable diseases. Should you receive questions, there is also a page focused on student resources.

As always, I appreciate you and all that you do to make William & Mary the stellar place that it is today. Thank you.

Here’s to a fantastic year!

Peggy

Syllabi Template language for Mental and Physical Well-Being:

William & Mary recognizes that students juggle different responsibilities and can face challenges that make learning difficult. There are many resources available at W&M to help students navigate emotional/psychological, physical/medical, material/accessibility concerns, including:

The W&M Counseling Center at (757) 221-3620. Services are free and confidential.
The W&M Health Center at (757) 221-4386.
For additional support or resources & questions,

Contact the Dean of Students at 757-221-2510.

Other resources available to students.