The Semester Begins!

and is off to a running start.

Happy 2009 everyone! It was wonderful that so many faculty and staff were able to join Anne and me for our open house. Thanks to all who came-it was a wonderful day.

We had an Advisory Board meeting today and I'm pleased to say that the Advisory Board recommendations regarding curriculum are just about ready to be distributed. I will be sharing them with the Provost next week, and then I'll distribute them widely. In addition we've formed an Academic Review and Enhancement Committee of the Board which will provide us with other perspectives on our curricula renewal.

We've also formed an Outreach Committee, and Jonathan and I visited Brooklyn Tech High School right after Christmas, thanks to Brian Cosgrove, a member of our Board, who has done some consulting work with the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation. We are looking to develop a partnership there-more as that develops.

I'll be in Pleasantville tomorrow with the morning taken up with a Budget Committee meeting. Monday morning I'll be in NYC at a Strategic Planning Committee meeting, and then hosting Dr. Wesley Chu, a colleague of Chienting Lin, who is visiting from Taiwan. Tuesday and Friday I'm in Pleasantville and Wednesday and Thursday I'm at the Graduate Center.

I'm working on a draft discussion document for distribution in early February that will serve as a "blueprint" for our reorganization. I've blocked off most of Tuesday of next week to write the first draft; the rest of the week includes meetings with Philanthropy to discuss plans for this year's LST (we're currently looking at the second week of June) and my regularly scheduled meeting with the Provost.

We're watching our fall enrollments and hoping that they will at least hold flat for next year. As more information becomes available I'll share it with you. Faculty, try to attend the location Faculty Council meetings where much of this information is disseminated, and staff, try to attend the Staff Administrative Council.

I wish us all peace and happiness (and lots of students!) in this new year!