Dear Colleagues,

Amazingly enough, we’re nearly halfway through the Spring Quarter.
  
One of the best parts of the quarter for me has been co-teaching a senior seminar and getting to engage with a very involved and lively group of students. Their questions, comments, and insights are always refreshing and often lead in unexpected directions. Last week, we had the students investigate some online data sets to come up with hypotheses, and test them using other available data -- and then put together quick online posters relaying what they'd surmised and what they’d learned. It was absolutely astonishing to see how much they accomplished in just half an hour, and to witness their take on information long familiar to their professors but new for them.  

I assume that many of you have similar stories from your own experiences working with students, and I look forward to hearing them when we meet again on campus this summer or this fall. As you will have been seeing from a variety of campus notices, opportunities to come back to campus are expected to keep opening up, as vaccination rates rise and San Diego county infection rates fall.

Yet, on a more somber note, we should remain aware that other parts of the world are still being harshly impacted by the pandemic. The news from India is dire and that from Brazil and other countries is also alarming. Please if you have colleagues or students who may be impacted by the health crises in other nations, let them know they are not alone. Your kind words may make a tremendous difference.

Thank you for your many contributions to the university community. Your creative scholarship, thoughtful teaching and mentorship, attention to improving processes, and support for those around you all make me proud to be a Triton.

Wishing you all the best for the spring,
Elizabeth H. Simmons