In November I wrote how impressed I am with the enthusiasm and energy of the faculty and staff and the strong collective desire to move the College forward. We continue to pursue new and reimagined majors and minors; a new first-year experience designed to help students become academically and socially engaged in the life of the College; and internship and study abroad experiences that are integrated into the curriculum.
The cornerstone of our ongoing pursuit of academic excellence is our faculty. Our tremendous faculty continue to achieve excellence in scholarship and teaching. You can follow their achievements on our web page (uvm.edu/cas/) and on Twitter (@UVMcas and @bill_falls). Soon we will be adding to the ranks of our scholar-teacher-mentors. This fall we launched national searches for faculty in the areas of Middle East and International Politics (Political Science), Time-based Media (Art and Art History/Film and Television Studies), Econometrics (Economics), Creative Writing (English), and Theoretical Condensed Matter (Physics). These new faculty will strengthen scholarship in these areas and allow the College to offer courses that are in demand by our students.
Amidst the excitement and enthusiasm for the College, our community suffered a great loss with the sudden death of Alfred (Tuna) Snider, the Edwin W. Lawrence Professor of Forensics. Tuna was an international “legend” in debate and with his love of debate and love of teaching, he consistently guided the Lawrence Debate Union at UVM to international acclaim. In 2011 the UVM debate team was ranked seventh in the world, joining perennial top ten programs at Yale, Cornell, Oxford, and Cambridge. The debate team is currently ranked in the top 20, and under the guidance of interim Lawrence Debate Union Director Jillian Marty-Dushane, recently received its first-ever first-round bid to the National Debate Conference. While Tuna can never be replaced, the College is firmly committed to supporting the continued success of the Lawrence Debate Union and, with the help of very committed alumni, is launching a national and international search for an Edwin W. Lawrence Professor of Forensics.
Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter and to get caught up on the goings on in the College. This is an exciting time, and if you are in a position to help us, please let me know.
Be well.
Bill Falls
Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences