July 11, 2025

Greetings Staff and Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences,

 

I hope everyone is finding time to enjoy the beautiful (and very warm) summer we’re having here in Laramie. I wanted to share a few updates with everyone.

 

First, as many of you already saw in the UW This Week email, I’m delighted to share that Nancy Small, associate professor in the Department of English, has been named a President’s Distinguished Scholar. This recognition honors her outstanding contributions to scholarship, teaching, and community-engaged research—congratulations, Nancy!

 

The transition of Carolyn to her new role as Interim Dean of the School of Graduate Education is now complete. As previously discussed, I will be taking on her former roles, responsibilities, and departments—with two exceptions: Criminal Justice/Sociology will now report to Susan, and Music will move under my oversight. Otherwise, everything else remains the same for now.

 

Next week, I’ll be attending the Board of Trustees Retreat in Beulah. This annual gathering is an important opportunity to represent the College in conversations around both present priorities and long-term institutional planning.

 

I’m also pleased to announce that we have finalized our CPM decisions for the upcoming year. While we didn’t have as many positions available as we did last year, we were able to address some key needs across the College. The approved positions are:

 

American Cultural Studies – One-year position in Native and Indigenous Studies
CJ/SOC – Assistant Professor (Policing)
COJO – Department Head
Music – One-year position in Piano
Psychology – Assistant Professor (Clinical)

I want to thank Central Committee for an extremely thoughtful discussion regarding their recommendations. We tried to honor those recommendations to the extent possible, while also looking to the future given our limited resources. As these searches get underway, we’re also preparing to welcome a large cohort of new faculty this fall.

Finally, I encourage you to attend the Centennial Speaker Series hosted by the UW Center for Global Studies on Wednesday, July 17 at 4:30 p.m. at the Centennial Library. The event will feature faculty presentations from Chelsea Escalante, Zoe Pearson, and Nikolas Sweet. This is a wonderful opportunity to engage with A&S faculty and international research right here in our backyard!

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Adrienne Freng