Dear colleagues,
As part of our start to the fall 2020 semester, we will hold a welcome event as we traditionally have on the first Monday of classes during the regular colloquium time slot. All graduate students, faculty, and staff are welcome and encouraged to attend.
This year will of course be different in that this meeting will be conducted virtually. There will be some brief general remarks and then we will breakout (virtually) into small groups as a Zoom meeting with scores of people does not facilitate communication among all easily.
In the past, we have gone through brief introductions so that people new to the department can be introduced to those who are returning and vice versa. Given the circumstances, we are going to do things a little differently this year and won’t be doing precisely that at this event. Instead, we’ll be inviting people to make a quick introduction via video (or text, if that is the preference) when there is a convenient time for them and we’ll post them to a password-protected location. I’ll provide details at the welcome meeting, but didn’t want people to be surprised.
I know that these are difficult and stressful times, and that we are having to operate in ways not only different than in the past but also in a way that we often don’t like as well. This does mean that we need to make an extra effort to stay connected and so I would encourage everyone to participate in this event.
In the past, I have always appreciated the energy and underlying excitement of the start of the fall semester as an annual reminder of our teaching, research, outreach, and other activities. While there are many complications to this semester, I find that I still find that I am looking forward to the start of the semester with a similar sense of energy and excitement. There are great things going in the department because of everyone’s efforts, and I am looking forward to those things continuing in the fall.
See you virtually on Monday, August 24th, at 4pm. A Zoom link is below.
-Jake
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 920 1679 3970
Join by SIP
Join by H.323
162.255.37.11 (US West)
162.255.36.11 (US East)
115.114.131.7 (India Mumbai)
115.114.115.7 (India Hyderabad)
213.19.144.110 (EMEA)
103.122.166.55 (Australia)
64.211.144.160 (Brazil)
69.174.57.160 (Canada)
207.226.132.110 (Japan)
Meeting ID: 920 1679 3970
