Recognizing Our Accomplishments and Looking Forward

Dear colleagues, 

It was a pleasure seeing many of you at Commencement, despite the rainy start to the procession. In this moment of quiet before summer term, I want to reflect on this academic year and recognize some of our many recent accomplishments. From the inspiring inauguration of President Sian Leah Beilock to the palpable tension in our community this spring, it has been a year of both historic highs and complex challenges.

This year, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences marked its 40th anniversary, with several special events ranging from the Path to the Presidency series to speakers such as former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney. I applaud faculty director Jason Barabas '93, executive director Anna Mahoney, and associate director Herschel Nachlis for their commitment to sustaining Nelson A. Rockefeller '30's legacy of public service and informed public debate.

Building on Rocky's decades-long work to create a more compassionate world, the Dialogue Project launched in January. Thanks to the extraordinary dedication of colleagues in Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies, led by professors Susannah Heschel and Tarek El-Ariss, our first special topic series garnered national attention for leading meaningful conversations among students about the crisis in the Middle East. (If you missed them, many of these sessions can be watched on the Dialogue Project website.)

With partners across campus including DCAL and Student Affairs, we also led workshops on critical collaborative dialogue skills and brought experts to campus to foster greater understanding of the role emotions play in our lives and to discuss how to have candid conversations around race. Additionally, we launched Dartmouth's first-of-its-kind partnership with StoryCorps' One Small Step, with 25 conversations already recorded this year among students, faculty, and staff. 

I also want to update you on our efforts to bring more staff to the Arts and Sciences. Thanks to the support of President Beilock, who committed funds this past fall that enabled us to hire 15 new full-time-equivalent staff, we filled ten new staff positions and are working towards filling the remaining five, largely in technical/research roles. 

Throughout this year, an immense amount of work went into the evolving proposal for a new school of Arts and Sciences, including deep engagement from faculty. Your input has had a significant positive impact on creating a proposal we can all be proud of, one that supports Arts and Sciences priorities with transparent relationships with the central administration. I encourage you to continue to engage with this process in the fall before the proposal is presented at our Oct. 30 faculty meeting.   

Additionally, I want to congratulate colleagues across the Arts and Sciences on a phenomenal recruitment season. Twenty-four new faculty members will soon join us, across 16 departments and programs! I look forward to sharing more details with you soon about our new professors.

Speaking of faculty, I am also excited to welcome Sarah Wasserman to our academic leadership team in August in the newly created position of assistant dean for faculty affairs. This position was created to support faculty across a range of areas, including mentoring and professional development. Sarah's successes as both a scholar and administrator make her uniquely qualified to guide and empower faculty in this new role. 

Finally, as colleges and universities across the country wrestle with issues related to protecting freedom of expression for all individuals on campus, I encourage you to engage with the provost's new committees on freedom of expression and dissent, institutional neutrality, and de-escalation. While we may not always agree on the finer points of our institution's policies, by working together to provide constructive feedback, we will strengthen our shared understanding and our community.

This spring marks the end of my seventh academic year as dean. The emotion I return to repeatedly in this role is gratitude. I remain grateful, as ever, for the opportunity to support the faculty in their roles as scholars, creatives, and educators.

I wish you a restorative and inspiring summer. 

With best wishes,
Elizabeth