[Plsfaculty] To faculty colleagues in SPLS

[Arnold, Betsy - (fungi)]

Dear members of our School of Plant Sciences community,

I am humbled and honored to take on the responsibility of serving as Interim Director for our School. This is a role that I take seriously and with a strong appreciation for our mission delivery in instruction, research, and Extension. I see my role as one that requires vision, leadership, management, advocacy, development, service, and outreach, all built on a foundation of integrity, mutual respect and support, collaboration, a forward-looking mindset, and communication. These are my principles and they will guide me as a member of our community, working on behalf of all of us.

As we all know, our unit has immediate needs. Restoring and renewing the stability, function, and cooperative nature of our business office is especially important at this time. We are exceptionally fortunate to be gaining the expertise, quality, and professionalism of Amanda Stevens and Keven Teres in this regard. Based on our interactions and their excellence, I believe their work with us will be the game-changer we all need. Please stay tuned for emails from the three of us regarding the business office and financial matters.

As a unit, we also have profound needs to address in our curricula and course delivery, metrics for our majors, international programs, graduate education, and in many facets of research and Extension. Over the past week I have been a guest, at Shane’s invitation, in meetings of Heads of Departments (unit leaders/HoDs) and the CALES Spring Budget retreat. I have spoken with most of the Associate Deans in CALES, communicated extensively with Shane, reached out to members of our staff, faculty, and graduate student group, and begun to connect with our development office, stakeholders and partners. My aim is to share that SPLS is a unit of accomplishment and great potential, and to advocate for what we do, and can do, as an incredible group of people.

I feel strongly that in any organization, the greatest asset truly does lie in our people — in who we are, and where we can go together. When success for one is viewed as a success for all, we can move forward in new ways. A measure of my impact, should I be fortunate to be successful, will be that we position ourselves rapidly and effectively as a unit that will attract a world-class permanent Director.

In the coming days I will be communicating as much as possible to set up group meetings (faculty, staff, graduate students), clarify our plans for our next faculty meeting, and align teams to address some of our most pressing needs. I am advocating on behalf of our unit for support at the associate director level and for advancement of our curricular and graduate training needs. If I am quiet please know that I am working for us and those we serve.

In closing, please join me in thanking Dr. Judy Brown for the time, energy, and effort she invested during her position as Interim Director. We wish Judy well as she returns to her exceptional research program.

Warm regards,
Betsy


Email: all of these reach me:
arnold at ag.arizona.edu, fungi at arizona.edu, barnoldaz at gmail.com

Phone: 520.396.0854




[The University of Arizona block 'A' logo.]
A. Elizabeth Arnold, PhD

Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Curator, Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium

Chair and Director of Graduate Studies,

Ecosystem Genomics GIDP

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

fungi at arizona.edu

www.arnoldlab.net<http://www.arnoldlab.net> | www.gilbertsonherbarium.net<http://www.gilbertsonherbarium.net>


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