Plans can sometimes change. As a result, I am in town this week with a fair bit of time on my calendar. I should be able to get through most of this year’s promotion and tenure documents so that I am familiar with the cases when the college committee meets before Thanksgiving. I won’t make any final decisions before the college committee discusses and provides a recommendation for each case, but I like to read the candidate packages beforehand.
I have time this week to attend the annual Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation banquet on Wednesday evening and hear some of the strategic planning conversation in advance. I missed this event last year and would have this year, too, had my travel plans not changed. Also on the schedule is a bi-weekly meeting of the deans and provost. We are excited to be starting in-person interviews for the Statewide 4-H Program Leader position with the first candidate in this week.
Last week included conversations with a few of our donors and opportunities to meet new prospective partners. More of that will continue as the month progresses. The Cornerstone event attendance looks good with a number of external attendees in addition to colleagues from across the campus. I anticipate a strong showing of student posters, too, making the judging competition difficult for our volunteer judges. I particularly look forward to hearing from our keynote speaker. By November 10, I anticipate being over my cold and will take advantage of the lighter schedule this week to rest up a bit so that my voice recovers.
I don’t know how long this nice weather will last, but it makes it difficult to want to stay inside and rest. I hope you get a chance to take advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures even if it is just on your way to the polling booth!