Dear Faculty and Staff,
Welcome back and happy new year. I hope that you were all able to relax and disconnect a bit over the semester break. As we gear up for the second half of the academic year, I want to recognize what makes this campus the exceptional institution that it is - you. Each and every one of you. Our greatest asset truly is our people.
I want to recognize the nearly 100 faculty and staff who opted to participate in the early retirement incentive program. I echo the comments, appreciation, and good wishes that we have seen over the last few weeks from units who shared retirements with campus. UMD has been incredibly fortunate that these individuals shared their time and talents with us over the years. We are losing a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge, and I am aware of the impact that will have on our campus community. At the same time, we are happy for each of them as they celebrate their time at UMD and, hopefully, find more time for themselves and their family and friends in retirement. You will each be missed and I hope that you continue to stay engaged with our UMD community.
In the last ten months, along with all of the challenges the pandemic brought to our campus and the world, the one constant that has kept me going is our students, faculty, and staff. We have persevered, we have adapted, we have changed how we teach, learn, research, and work. We have each dealt with new stresses outside of work and balanced a whole new set of work/life challenges. I see and understand the toll this has taken on members of our campus community. Yet, we haven’t changed our commitment and dedication to higher education. Thank you!
As we begin to welcome students back to campus, and as classes start next week, I want you to know that the leadership team and I appreciate you and your work. I have no doubt that we are stronger as a result of what we’ve all been through this last year, and I look forward to 2021.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
