Welcome back! I hope everyone had a nice break. Even for those of us working, it was nice to have time without meetings or abundant email messages. Soon, students will return, bringing energy to campuses and high hopes for a strong semester. While we wished some of our colleagues well as they headed off to new adventures at the end of the fall semester, we will have some new faces around CAHNRS as well. I am excited to meet our new team members, including those located outside of Pullman. Travel begins again next week. So far this season, travel disruptions have been minimal. I aim to keep it that way.
Thanks to all who submitted impact statements. Holly Neibergs and our new associate dean for research, Leslie Edgar, spent time these past few weeks editing and formatting a group of the statements to upload into the national impact database. Ten new statements were added last week. These will be used by the CAHNRS leadership team in our discussions about the value of CAHNRS research and Extension. In addition, our federal partners and even White House staff scan the database for stories that convey the land-grant mission and its value. Keep the stories coming!
This week is light on meetings. I suspect some remain off for the short week or are preparing for classes to resume next week. The Department of Natural Resources moved its monthly board meeting to Wednesday. I have standing meetings on the books for the week and a few other meetings. I look forward to a faster pace next week. In the meantime, I am working on plans for the CAHNRS Advisory Council, gearing up for annual review season with a goal of simplification, and developing messaging that will share the good work taking place all across the college.