Students seem more energetic than they did at this point of the semester in the fall. I suspect many are ready for summer. I know for those across campus that work closely with students it is likely the most hectic time of year between helping current students find the perfect summer experience, complete their degree requirements, or line up fall classes to support our incoming prospective students, many of whom have numerous options. There is no shortage of student activities to attend.
It was nice to meet with a few of our recently retired faculty last week at the University House. The campus clearly has a very active emeriti community that also has no shortage of activities for those interested in remaining connected to the campus. I had a chance to see a few of those retirees I met briefly since my arrival as well as meet a couple more for the first time. Each has an impressive legacy serving UMD and AGNR.
Fall will be here before we know it. We are pushing hard to hire a few faculty, appoint a new Hughes Center Director, hire a new chair for the Department of Nutrition and Food Science, a new 4-H program leader, identify the next Weil Professor in Soil Science, among other searches. In addition, there are a few more searches that we anticipate launching over the next few months. While it is difficult to see people leave, I am grateful that we can recruit and attract new talent into positions through both internal and external searches despite the uncertainty of the state and national economy. People are our greatest asset.
I am in New Orleans for the first part of this week to attend the 1890 Agriculture Research Directors Symposium. This is an opportunity to hear from students at our 1890 land grant institutions and make them aware of graduate opportunities in AGNR. Admittedly I am not terribly excited about airports these days, but I think the trip is worthy of the effort because we may not be top of mind for students across primarily the south when they are considering graduate education or postdoctoral experiences. Training graduate students and mentoring postdoctoral faculty are important to our research engine.
I’ve got a few presentations I need to think about, including the upcoming State of the College. In addition, it is performance review season for all of us which requires me to think about our goals, accomplishments, and do some planning for next year working closely with the associate deans. I could use an infusion of that student energy but it’s all good. We are moving forward on a number of fronts, thanks to the people of AGNR. Let’s hope we are soon on a clear path towards spring/summer – of this I am less certain!