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January 2023
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students in the Klingler College of Arts & Sciences,
Happy New Year! I hope you had a beautiful holiday season with time for rest and reflection.
The season began for me with a pre-Christmas trip to Boston to participate in a Marquette
Mentors event and meet with alumni. It is always a joy to get to know our A&S alumni,
who have such deep love for Marquette thanks to the staff and faculty members who
guided their journeys and to their fellow graduates who in many cases remain their
dearest friends.
In addition, I hope that 2023 and the new semester are off to a wonderful start for
you. In the College of Arts & Sciences we held our third annual Virtual New Year Workshop
on January 13. The workshop is an opportunity for faculty and staff colleagues to
gather and build community while articulating our vision for the future. This year’s
workshop was extra special in that we were joined by colleagues from the College of
Education. The focus was threefold: generating ideas for the university’s Strategic Planning 2030 initiative, deepening our connection with the college tagline “the difference is
in the and” and digging into our strengths and aims, particularly our Catholic, Jesuit mission
and our charge to ask big questions. We benefitted from “moments that matter” thanks
to three presentations. The topics were mission integration fellowships (Lilly Campbell
and Jenna Green), sustainability and integral ecology (Tim Tharp and David Nowacek)
and restorative justice and practice (Gabe Velez and Troy Washington). I am grateful
to Jon Metz who led the reflection and contributed to planning the workshop.
Among the ideas that emerged from our gathering was an intention to be more present
to one another. Someone suggested we should all try to attend at least one event in
another area of the college or the campus this semester. There was considerable enthusiasm
around integral ecology, student success, interdisciplinary research and engagement
with our communities both locally and globally. One of the most striking insights
was articulated this way: “Meet ourselves where we are.” In a twist on the more customary
phrase about meeting students where they are, I think this insight is a wonderful
challenge to be present and to assess our circumstances candidly so that we may move
forward toward a hope-filled future.
The workshop was also another opportunity to welcome our newest staff colleague, Kalyn
Gackowski (Arts & Sciences ‘17), inaugural student success coordinator for our college.
This role was made possible thanks to the support of Provost Ah Yun. Welcome Kalyn!
As a reminder, Scott Reid is serving this semester as Associate Dean of Faculty, Research
and Graduate Studies. In the dean’s office, we are setting goals for the semester
and making plans for advances in crucial areas like student success, research, support
for faculty and staff and fundraising. Remember that the dean’s office is here to
support you.
As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns or suggestions. I appreciate hearing from you and exploring
ways we can all work together for the common good.
Dr. Heidi Bostic
Dean, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
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