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Dear colleagues,</div>
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I hope everyone is doing well at this busy time of year. As we approach the end of this unusual semester, I hope everyone can take a moment to reflect on your accomplishments, and those of your students, colleagues, staff, and friends: I am really proud of
all we've accomplished in SPLS the first few months of 2025, and I thank everyone for your work and dedication.</div>
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As you know, we are experiencing some changes in our College at this time. Interim Dean Mike Staten is getting aligned with and acquainted with his new role, with support from across the College and Division. With his very full schedule in the early days of
his leadership activity, we have not yet had a chance for Mike to meet with the unit heads. We anticipate this will happen in the next week or so.</div>
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At this time, we also are awaiting the University's decision regarding the budget for CALES. As a result, we do not yet have the graduate funding memo that we typically would receive from College leadership in February/early March. We have nearly finalized
arrangements to cover gaps we have faced in Graduate Coordination and Room and Course Scheduling; these will be fully settled this week. Next week, we will have an update from Interim Associate Dean Jon Chorover regarding the federal funding landscape, as
well as insights into Extension activities and related following the ANR Retreat. In the midst, we look forward to welcoming our new Administrative Assistant for the unit, shared with ENVS and to start soon in person. I will be excited to introduce this exceptional
professional to our School.</div>
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<b>For these reasons, I would like to postpone our faculty meeting from April 25 to a tentative date of May 16 (11am-12:30pm). I anticipate that we will be in a more informed position by that time, and we will be able to discuss ways forward more effectively
with more knowledge in hand.</b> </div>
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As always, our meeting will be held in-person with an online option, and materials from the meeting will be posted to our Box. We will use the moment to celebrate the end of term with some food to share - please stay tuned.</div>
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In the meantime, I will share news as I receive it. I encourage everyone to attend the next Plant Sciences Salon, advertised recently by Ravi. I'm beginning the APR process after some institutional delays, so I'll be in touch. And — as we look ahead -- please
don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns: arnold@ag.arizona.edu, and 520.396.0854.</div>
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Warm regards,</div>
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Betsy</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(64, 54, 53);"><img alt="The University of Arizona block 'A' logo." title="The University of Arizona" width="90" style="width: 90px; box-sizing: border-box;" src="https://marcom.arizona.edu/modules/custom/brand_generator/img/ua-sig-logo.png"></span></td>
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<div style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">
<span style="line-height: 1.2; font-weight: 700;">A. Elizabeth Arnold, </span><span style="line-height: 1.2;">PhD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">Interim Director and Professor, School of Plant Sciences</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">Curator, Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">Chair and Director of Graduate Studies,</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">Ecosystem Genomics GIDP</span></p>
<div style="line-height: 1.2; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(73, 80, 87);">
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);">fungi@arizona.edu</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(12, 35, 75);"><a href="http://www.arnoldlab.net" id="OWA905dcc61-b18e-a036-a0ec-254072e5c286" class="OWAAutoLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">www.arnoldlab.net</a> |
<a href="http://www.gilbertsonherbarium.net" id="OWA329277a5-5bc1-69e8-3e76-c7a8f0722b79" class="OWAAutoLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
www.gilbertsonherbarium.net</a> </span></p>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(237, 92, 87);"><b><i>To schedule a meeting, please use
</i></b><a href="https://calendly.com/fungi-arizona" id="OWA91b19519-46dc-691a-045d-0a757075c3b9" class="OWAAutoLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">https://calendly.com/fungi-arizona</a></span></p>
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