In the cycle of academic life, mid-November can be a time to slow down and  breathe.  Midterms are over and the holiday crazy has not yet begun.  The US Thanksgiving holiday is in November as is World Kindness Day.  Both remind us to express gratitude and celebrate others, and I would like to take the time (and the space in this newsletter) to do exactly that.  Thank you to Heather Niemeier for her work organizing Tacos and Tips for the Tenure Track, a new LEARN program designed to support our tenure track faculty beyond their first year, and give them time to taco’bout tenure.  Thank you to Rimi Zakaria and Jolly Emrey for their leadership supporting LEARN’s 2023-2024 civil discourse initiative.  Thank you to Dana Wagner and the LTC for their work spearheading LEARN/LTC programming on generative AI.  Thank you to Heather Pelzel, Juk Bhattacharyya, and Christine Hoover for exemplary LEARN book club leadership this fall.  Thank you to Gina Elmore, Andy Browning, Michael Lango, Courtney Powers, Christine Hoover, Winter Counseling Services, and so many others for leading LEARN workshops and/or presenting at Chair’s Council/DA Council/First Year Program this fall.  Finally, congratulations to our 50 colleagues across the university who received 2023-2023 Teaching and Learning grants, and a round of applause to Dr.  Heather Pelzel for being selected to present at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) conference in Utrecht, Netherlands. 

Mid-November’s mini pause allows us time to appreciate the many networks of relationships that uphold and shape us.  I am grateful for all the contributions made across our campuses in support of the LEARN Center’s mission.  Thank you.