Tea in the Sahara, or Coffee with the New Dean. . .

A quick stop by the library's Mermaid for a coffee before the later coffee. A pleasant 30 minutes. Quiet jazz and only one other patron working on his laptop. A far cry from the chaos of the academic year.

One of about 25 faculty and staff to meet the new dean of our college this morning over coffee and some kind of dried out pastries. Relax. It's not an exclusive group. There are actually several such opportunities during July for faculty and staff across the college to meet the new guy.

My impression? Nice enough, and he talks a good line as someone friendly to the Humanities. Time will tell. But I suspect our new dean is someone who has, ultimately, been chosen to make steep cuts given the entire institution's ongoing budgetary shortfall. A situation made more urgent given the last six months.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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