Preparing to Hit the Ground Running

Dear UW community members:

It has been a little over a week since my first message to you, and my thoughts are frequently with the UW community and the enormous amount of work and adjustments all of you are addressing on a daily basis. As he communicated in his May message, President Theobald continues work with campus leaders to lead a herculean effort to manage daily operations, teaching and learning support, community and state engagement, all while planning for our future with the uncertainties that the COVID-19 virus brings. Through prompt communications, outreach and continuing analysis of a dynamic situation, UW leadership’s commitment to support our faculty, staff, students and communities remains at the highest levels.  

While Illinois still requires my full-time attention until I start at UW July 1, I am devoting as much time as possible to engagement with UW during this interim period -- and trying to absorb all that is shared with me about the campus and state.  As I am able, I build time into my schedule to stay in contact with President Theobald, members of the UW Board of Trustees, and other leadership on campus and in the state to learn everything I can in advance of arriving in late June. While I wish I could be there in person, I have at least been able to join remotely for a few social events with some alumni, the basketball program, the Wyoming Institute for Humanities Research, and even an evening soirée with the deans! I am exceptionally eager to become a full-time Poke, but I just have to be a little patient to get there! Meanwhile, we are watching films set in Wyoming and reading what we can; please send any suggestions on thoughts you may have on what to watch or read to learn about the state!

On the home front, Gabrielle and I are in the throes of getting ready for our move west! Our home is an array of boxes, furniture and some guitars, while we fit in a lot of scanning in evenings as we try to digitize many of our paper items that we don’t need to move physically. I am sure many of you have experienced this kind of thing! I am hopeful that we have identified a short-term housing solution so that we can start our venture into the Laramie community from a solid home base on July 1.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the request for nominations for the interim provost. It was incredibly helpful to me to understand more fully the range of talent and experience UW has in place! I will be working in the coming days on this, and President Theobald and myself will stay in contact with the campus community as it develops. I also wish to thank many of our campus leaders for the efforts they have extended for me in completing a request for information on their areas of responsibility. This type of information and engagement will prove invaluable to me as I prepare to hit the ground running in Wyoming come July.

May brings our focus to the end of the spring semester. Gabrielle and I join with so many others in wishing UW students success during this time. While the conclusion of the semester and finals will look different this year for UW’s students, the recognition of the extraordinary efforts and work of our students to complete their goals is at the highest level. One thing that has become apparent to me since my visit to campus in February is the passion, commitment and grit of the citizens of Wyoming. All of that and more is reflected in the work ethic and achievements of the University of Wyoming’s students. Albeit from a distance, Gabrielle and I are cheering each of you on as you finalize the semester and this step of your academic journey.

Let me just say again how excited we are to join the UW community! We are thinking about you, the university and the state every day as we work toward concluding our responsibilities in Illinois and transitioning to bring all our energies to Wyoming.

Best regards,

President-Elect Ed Seidel