Dear Students,
The science story this week is La Nina climate patterns and how a little warmer ocean temperature in the Pacific can lead to less precipitation in the Midwestern U.S. We got a little relief from La Nina this weekend, and it rained in Austin, a big deal when you consider that the last serious rain was in June and our rainfall for the year has been about 6 inches total. As James Taylor sang, "Make it Rain!" It didn't help our football team much, but it was fun to go outside with my kids and run around.
On the education front, a lot of us are thinking about graduation, the process of getting a degree and how best to support students getting through in 4 years. The College has a number of programs which try to enable timely registration, such as priority registration for graduating seniors, the Degree in Three accelerated program, and increasing our number of course offerings in Summer Session. But we are constantly looking for ways to make it easier for students to graduate from our College in 4 years time and still get in all the internship, clinical shadowing, or research experience that make a college degree a rich experience that prepares students for successful job searches.
Dean Laude is working with student College Tuition and Budget Advisory Council and the President and Provost on a series of initiatives that will help students progress through their degrees more easily, and has sought input from student leaders, presidents of student organizations, members of the Senate of College Councils, and the Natural Science Council, all of whom have provided valuable insight. In the coming weeks, as these plans develop, we'll be asking for additional feedback from you.
Stay tuned.
Best of luck in the coming week.
Yours,
Dr. Sacha Kopp
Comments