This past year has shown us all what we can accomplish when we think outside of the box and embrace new technologies and new ways of thinking. The pandemic led to innovations in how we deliver our courses, engage with our students, connect with our alumni, and showcase the talent and expertise of our students and faculty.

The Department of Theatre Arts had to get creative to make its spring mainstage production possible. The cast was unable to perform in front of an audience, so director Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Jess K. Smith ’05 and her students transformed Norton Clapp Theatre into a soundstage so they could livestream their performance of the play Machinal on YouTube. Despite the complications of public health restrictions and the technical challenge of blending live, remote, and prerecorded elements, the show was a huge success, drawing more than 900 viewers from around the world.

For first-year students, the transition to college life has not been easy, especially for those who spent their first semester or two participating in fully remote classes hundreds or even thousands of miles away from campus. The Guide Puget Sound (GPS) program, a new course designed to help first-year students build community, provided a forum for students to get to know their peers and develop lasting friendships. One class of GPS students even decided to produce a podcast documenting their experience of navigating COVID-19 as its final assignment.

With international borders closed for most of 2020, all study abroad trips had to be canceled, including our long-running immersion program in Dijon, France. Since a semester abroad is required for all French majors, Professor of French and Francophone Studies Diane Kelley, the department chair, worked with Nathalie Choplain, resident director of the Dijon program, to bring French language and culture to juniors and seniors. Their inventive new course, French Cultural Experience, saw the class cook their own Burgundian cuisine with the help of a French chef, chat with students from the Université de Bourgogne via Zoom, tour Paris through photos and videos, and participate in a virtual wine tasting.

Looking ahead, we are cognizant of the need to invest not only in student success but in faculty success, as well. Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Colbert-White is heading up the creation of the Faculty Development Center as its inaugural director. With your support, the new center will help foster the professional development of our faculty members as teachers, researchers, scientists, and artists. We are confident that the center will enable our dedicated scholar-teachers to take the next step in their careers or scholarship, whether it’s starting a manuscript, launching a new project, or reimagining their course content.

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President's Annual Report 2022–23

President's Annual Report 2021-22