It is winter for sure now...

My sweet New Paltz was blanketed with maybe 8" of snow yesterday, turning the first undergraduate commencement (2nd one this morning and Graduate School this afternoon) of the season into a sparsely attended but raucous affair.  It was short - less than an hour - and moving as only graduations can be.  Our DBA, Carol, who lives an hour away across the river, spent the night.  Working the Friday ceremony, and then the Saturday morning ceremony leaves little time for long, snow clogged commutes.  I don't know if I am just noticing it more, but the large contingent of staff volunteers at graduation ceremonies is remarkable at SUNY New Paltz.

Among the many changes at my college is a construction/renovation project at the Student Union Building (SUB).  It will involve a relocation of Jazzman's, one of three Starbuck's-ish coffee shops, to a farther away location.  As the SUB is just steps away from the offices of the Haggerty Administration Building, many of us are at Jazzman's multiple times a day.  Student life folks use it as conference space.  So the women who work at Jazzman's are much a part of our lives.  Mary Beth, dean of advising and a member of the Provost's Office, had a great idea yesterday morning which resulted in perhaps 20 serenading the Jazzman's crew with "Jingle Bell Rock."  It was a tiny moment of greatness:  spontaneous, fun, warm, good hearted.  

I am grateful for the lively, smart and hard working colleagues I have acquired by virtue of coming to New Paltz.  While a list of names is always a risk (someone gets left out; names are misspelled, etc.), it is a pleasure for me.  Here it is:  Shelly, Marda, Mary Beth, Sally, Steve, Carole, Jerry, Jon, all the David's, my name-mate Jackie, Shelly H, Laurel (of course), Vika, Carlos, Mert, Linda, Gae, Mary.  I am surrounded by a fabulous staff.  To see us all, go to http://www.newpaltz.edu/oir/staff.html

It's also Christmas card season and a time to hear from friends from all over.  I'm sobered, a little intimidated and a bit self-conscious by those who have said they are reading our blog.  Of course, I want people to read, but jeez, people are reading.