A Message from the Dean: March 2022

Dear CASL Colleagues,

Let me be among the first to wish you a happy spring! This spring, perhaps, seems all the more miraculous to many as we transition not just from our usual long winter but also from the even longer shadow cast by the COVID pandemic. It finally feels as though we may have turned the corner. Thank you for all of the amazing work that you all have been doing to keep our students and their needs sharply in focus and for all that you do to encourage and support one another. It is so inspiring to see.

Spring, of course, also is a season of renewal, of growth, and of new opportunity and there are many initiatives that have taken root in the college that are beginning to bud and will soon blossom. Our practice-based learning initiative has come together nicely and courses around our new themes will be launching next fall. CASL faculty also played a key role and led the campus effort that resulted in the acceptance of UM-Dearborn into the prestigious WPI Collaborative for Project-Based Learning. The conversations around the 3 to 4 credit hour conversion also continues, with at least two disciplines already moving their curriculum to the new model. CASL faculty have also resurrected study abroad with trips planned for Iceland, France, and with CASL faculty leading the way in both creating and staffing the university’s new DDC Abroad program in Gdansk, Poland! CASL will also be welcoming four new faculty into its ranks come September. In short, all of your hard work, initiative, and effort is bearing fruit and there is much to be excited about.

In thinking about these accomplishments, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull): “Behold my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!” So too has spring returned to CASL. I cannot wait to see the full results of our collective work! Thank you again for your hard work and commitment!

- Martin Hershock, Dean