Dear Colleagues,
Every August, we are given the privilege of beginning again.
You can feel it already. A new academic year is right around the corner. Faculty are putting the finishing touches on their courses. Staff are preparing to welcome and support students throughout the semester. Residence halls are buzzing with move-in activity and the excitement of students settling into campus life. Teams across the University have spent the summer coordinating and attending to the countless details that make the start of the academic year possible.
Before campus fills with thousands of students once again, I want to thank you.
Whether you have been teaching, conducting research, welcoming colleagues, caring for our campus or serving behind the scenes, your efforts create the community our students will soon call home.
As you may have heard, Senior Vice President Chad Tindol recently departed for a new role at another university. Chad made many positive contributions to UA, and we wish him well. Current leaders within the President’s Office, Dr. LeNá McDonald and Martha Griffith, will oversee Chad’s former responsibilities.
As we begin the year, I am grateful for the dedication of our deans, vice presidents and leaders representing Faculty Senate, SGA, PSA and OCTSA. Their collaboration and commitment in recent months have helped prepare our University for another successful academic year.
Our students are the reason we do this work.
Some will be here for the very first time, bringing with them the dreams of families sharing in this milestone. Others will return eager to see familiar faces and take the next step in their Alabama journey. Every student will arrive with hopes for the year ahead and the expectation that this is the place where they will belong, learn and grow.
Our University is defined by so much more than classrooms. Students learn from those around them every day: the professor who sparks curiosity, the advisor who offers encouragement, the staff member who solves a problem, grounds crew members who take pride in our campus and the countless others who help them find their place here. To us, those moments may seem ordinary. To those we serve, they make all the difference.
From the day they arrive, students will benefit from everything you have done to prepare for the fall semester. They will find the very best of The University of Alabama waiting for them.
Thank you for the difference you make. I look forward to welcoming our students, and I am grateful to begin another academic year alongside each of you.
Roll Tide!
Peter J. Mohler
President