Spring has to come sometime, though maybe not this week. Hopefully students, faculty, and staff will find warm temperatures during spring break, or good snowpack if that is preferred. The Sierra Nevada sound promising.
After spring break, the rest of the semester will fly by with many end-of-year events and recognitions. It is great to honor our staff, faculty, and students for their achievements and see what resulted from the hard work of club and capstone efforts.
Before any spring break activities commence for those in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering (BSE), the faculty will hold a retreat at the end of this week, followed by a Saturday event to recognize the department’s faculty history. Retired BSE Chair Larry James has worked hard to assemble the stories of each faculty member. I am particularly excited that each faculty member throughout the department’s history will be recognized in a photo display to be unveiled on Saturday. It will be a pleasure to meet faculty at the event and thank them for all they have done for the department, the college, and WSU.
I am spending much of this week reading through annual review materials, primarily for chairs and unit directors. These key leaders spend countless hours not only providing direction for their units, but also mentoring personnel to success and promoting the work of the unit. Unit leaders do this all while conducting their own academic programs. It is a juggling act to find time for all the commitments.
This week was the Board of Natural Resources meeting. Timber sales continue to take center stage during meetings. I suspect as we near sustainable harvest calculation deadlines there may be a change in emphasis. This is an interesting time for a potential new Commissioner of Public Lands. The same could be said for changes in many positions, though the challenges and opportunities differ with each position.
The associate deans and I continue to discuss plans for the next academic year. We are anxious to see how the state budget for WSU turns out and what that means for CAHNRS. We are excited about the prospect of more students in CAHNRS next year and want to provide all students with an exceptional experience.