Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks to Fran, I'm remembering to post on Thursday.

I'll be away next week, getting some much needed rest. I hope that all of you will also have a restful holiday.

I have been holding informal lunches with small groups of faculty from each of the departments. Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to participate, and those of you who will participate. Many good ideas have been generated from these lunches. I also met this week with those who report directly to me and with the current department chairs.

My goal for my week away is to write a "discussion draft" of a reorganization plan for the school, one that will be based on comments from the discussions I've had with faculty and staff, a review of the trends in enrollment in our school and in the disciplines, and a shared vision of where we can grow and thrive.

This discussion draft will be discussed with all faculty in early December and then with the staff in mid-December. Times and places haven't yet been determined.

Matt, Nick, Frank, Jonathan and I took a long hard look at the room past the kitchen in New York and we're working on getting Frank's lab set up. And we'll get a coffee/tea pot for the kitchen in NY, so that we have a small place to congregate.

I hope you'll take time to read the eCommunique. Louise has done a wonderful job of gathering the highlights of the last few months. I'm very impressed with the work our students have done.

And finally, we had a wonderful open house at the New York campus on Sunday. Thanks to all of the staff who made the event happen, and to the faculty who attended. Special thanks to Richard Kline and Jim Lawler who presented, and to Jonathan, Carey and Kim for all of their planning efforts.

I won't be posting next week but I'll update the blog with my schedule early during the first week in December. Enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday; I have much to be thankful for, especially for this opportunity to work with the faculty, staff and students of this School as together we plan our future.