November 23, 2020
Dear L&S colleagues,
As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to send a heartfelt message of gratitude to all of you, expressing my profound thanks for everything you have done this year to keep the College of Letters & Science functioning smoothly throughout the difficult challenges of 2020.
In March, with barely a week’s notice, we transitioned more than 4,000 courses to a remote learning format, thanks to the flexibility and round-the-clock work of faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants. This was an enormous accomplishment, and it will be remembered as an example of how, in a time of crisis, this college rose to meet the needs of the more than 20,000 students enrolled in L&S (and the thousands more across campus we teach) by ensuring a smooth continuation of instruction.
I saw this tireless work on behalf of our students continue throughout a turbulent spring and summer, as unrest over racial inequity roiled our city, the pandemic continued to rage, and the university weighed its options–none of them ideal—for Fall 2020 course delivery. As we welcomed students back to campus in early September, the positive results of L&S planning, teamwork and support were evident. From facilities management to finance and budgeting, from human resources to communications, from academic planning to advising, and from teaching to research, processes were in place to move our community forward.
The stress over the last several months has been almost unremitting. Through it all, you have continued to display creativity, resilience and compassion, three bedrock L&S values. So much has been upended, and yet our L&S mission has remained intact. I have you, our campus partners, and our students to thank for that.
Such an intense outpouring of time, energy, and creative problem-solving can deplete your reserves. I urge you all to take time for yourselves, away from work, this week. As the holiday season gets underway, it is important to remember to rest and recreate for your own well-being.
Thank you, colleagues, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you have done, and continue to do, on behalf of our L&S students and our university.
With gratitude,
Eric M. Wilcots
Dean and Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy
College of Letters & Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison