Memo #7—Final Exam Week—My Knit Cap is Off to You!

To: The University of Arkansas Academic Community

From: Bob Smith, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

This is the seventh and final in a series of memoranda about weather challenges and University-related activities during the period, December 12-20, 2000. Today—Tuesday, December 19, 2000—the University remains open and final exams are being administered as scheduled. Given the weather forecast for tomorrow—we expect that final exam week will come to a close—with a whimper. However, we have all "weathered" a significant series of challenges during the past seven days, and I want to take a moment to thank the members of our community who helped get us to this point:

. To our students: Thanks for your persistence, perseverance, and patience;

. To our faculty: Thanks for your extraordinary commitments to our students and our community—in tough times;

. To our staff: Thanks for all of your efforts—efforts that make our community work—from heating to parking access to transportation to administrative and secretarial services.

Life is full of challenges. Not only the good times are emblazoned in our memories. The challenging times—especially if we face them with good humor, grace, and skill--are also there in prominent array. Years from now, we will all look back at December, 2000 and its final exam week—a time when we made the grade with good humor, grace, and skill—when we realized—a little clearer—our vision of a student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world.

In epilog, Chancellor White has asked that we do a debriefing through his Executive Committee (the Vice Chancellors and his Executive Assistant) and the Dean’s Council—to assess our successes and areas for improvement relative to the events of the past week. We want to insure common understanding of our successes and areas for improvement--should we face another weather challenge at a crucial time in our university calendar. Accordingly, I am asking faculty and staff to share their thoughts with supervisors who report to my office and those of my Vice Chancellor and Dean colleagues. We also welcome the thoughts of students who may be with us during the holiday break. Our collective thoughts and experiences will be used to advise the Administration on areas for reinforcement or revision.

Thank you once again for your collective good humor, grace, and skill during the past seven days. My knit cap is off to you!

Kind personal regards.