Dear students, faculty members, and friends,

It feels a little forced to say this but, in the spirit of fresh starts and better times ahead: Happy New Year.

Being in academia, this is a strange time for us. For most, January 1, 2022 marked a fresh start. But for the University, it’s just another day in between semesters. Still, I’d like to offer some thoughts about what I’m looking forward to this year.

Maybe the most exciting dot on the horizon is the University-wide commencement ceremony in Fauver Stadium. We’ve been deprived of large, in-person ceremonies of any kind for so long that just the thought of everyone celebrating together in one place is making me a little emotional. Staying in the realm of events, there’s the upcoming Sawyer Seminar lectures next month and in March and April. Also in April, there’s the Carnegie-Rochester-NYU Public Policy Conference and the Ferrari Symposium. Hopefully, there will be in-person options for all of these, but even if there’s not, I give these my strongest recommendation. I think each will offer fascinating perspectives and engaging discussion.

From a more personal perspective, I’m very much looking forward to working with my new associate deans, Tom C. Devaney, associate dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Elaine Sia, associate dean of academic affairs in the College. Tom and Elaine were chosen after an extensive review of faculty nominations and began on January 1. Their terms will run through June 2025.

Now, once again I need to turn to COVID-19 and the coming semester.

To start, I want to acknowledge what an incredible job we did in the fall. I know wearing masks indoors isn’t popular. But the recent surge of the omicron-variant shows how important it is that we haven’t relaxed our safety measures. However, as you hopefully saw in the January 20 message from our University leaders, COVID cases are on a downward trend, so—good news—we are on pace to be on the River Campus, in-person on January 31.

Not to throw a wet blanket on this news, but I want echo and emphasize that COVID is still a concern. Our current plans and optimism for the spring semester does not mean we can throw caution to the wind. So, please continue to mask, follow other safety guidelines, and avoid high-risk situations and behavior.

Another thing I’m looking forward to: being on campus for the spring semester. Even though we just had a classic Rochester winter storm, greener days are ahead!

See you all soon.

Gloria Culver
Dean
School of Arts & Sciences