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Dear Colleagues,

Whether you are teaching summer classes, engaging in your scholarship, or continuing on a twelve-month appointment, I hope you are also finding time to reflect, celebrate your accomplishments, and savor some well-deserved leisure. After all, reflecting, celebrating, and relaxing help clarify our purpose and replenish us so that we can actualize our professional, personal, and organizational goals.����

Reflecting on ���ϲ�����’s recent achievements, one cannot help but celebrate the creation of the Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ���ϲ�����, yet there are numerous other programmatic and departmental achievements worth celebrating. Here are a few examples:

• The Diehn School of Music celebrated the naming and enhancement of the Frank and Jerri Dickseski (’84, ’90) Recording Studio.
• New undergraduate majors were created, including Chemical and Forensic Science, Coaching and Physical Activity Leadership, Data for a Human World, Entrepreneurship, General Studies, Japanese, Jazz Studies, Preclinical Studies, and Strategic Communications and Journalism.
• The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia approved seven new certificates, including four graduate certificates (viz., Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Defense, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, and Artificial Intelligence in Supply Chain Operations, and Computer Science for Teachers) and three undergraduate certificates (viz., Cultural Competency Leadership, Spanish for Healthcare Professionals, and Uncrewed Aerial Systems Engineering).
• The Batten College of Engineering and Technology opened an on-site office for Newport News Shipbuilding in ���ϲ�����’s Engineering Systems Building.
• The College of Sciences established an Undergraduate Research Program that provided $100,000 for eight departmental grants supporting undergraduate research.
• The MBA program celebrated its 60th��anniversary with a gala attended by alumni, supporters, staff, current students, and faculty.
• The Darden College of Education and Professional Studies developed the Undergraduate Accelerated Teacher Apprenticeship Program through a $483,480 grant from Virginia Department of Education.
• The University Libraries became a member of the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries.
• Academic Success Initiatives received funding from the National Institute for Student Success to support ���ϲ�����’s efforts to centralize academic advising.

We could easily identify countless other achievements worthy of celebration, but my key message is that the work that led to these and other accomplishments, justifies setting aside at least some leisure time to refuel our academic engines. As Ryan Holiday writes, “There’s nothing to feel guilty about for being idle. It’s not reckless. It’s an investment. There is nourishment in pursuits that have no purpose—that is their purpose.”

The investment in ourselves ultimately supports and strengthens ���ϲ�����’s ability to sustain its forward-focused trajectory in ways that continue to impact our students, faculty, staff, and community in meaningful and transformative ways.

Regards,

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Brian K. Payne, PhD

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs