We had our college-wide faculty meeting today, squeezed in the 45-minute "open period" between classes. I decided not to do a "state of the college" speech as I have done at the fall meetings, but instead I focused on updating everybody about faculty and departmental accomplishments--and of course about the budget situation.
The array of faculty accomplishments is really quite stunning. They range the gamut from multiple-hundred-thousand dollar grants, to prestigious national Fellowships, to book publications, to teaching and research awards. We didn't have time to go into it during such a brief meeting, but our students are equally prolific. Undergraduates and graduate students are having papers published, winning awards, and earning prestigious scholarships and fellowships.
It's quite obvious to me that a productive and highly engaged faculty results in productive and highly engaged students. Love of our work is contagious! If we are excited about our research or creative scholarship, our students will become infected with the same excitement.
There are many things to be concerned about these days; a declining economy looms over each decision we make about how to allocate scarce resources. Yet I for one don't intend to lose sight of the bigger, brighter picture. Great things are still happening here. I'm glad we have so many little victories to celebrate.