Welcome back!
Dear EGSA,
I hope you all have had an enjoyable summer! I hate to be the one to intrude upon these last precious moments of your break, but there are couple of items I would like to share with you.
First, I would like to extend an invitation to each of you to attend the new student orientation on Tuesday, August 16 that Courtney Parker and Christy Davis, our Orientation co-chairs, have been diligently planning. Please see the attached invitation for details. You are, of course, welcome to stay for the orientation meeting if you would like a refresher course on program requirements and university resources. If you can’t make it to socialize with the new folks at 3:30, I hope you will consider joining us for dinner at Ninfa’s around 5:30.
There are a few housekeeping things that I would like to clear up before we all get too deeply entrenched in the semester: (1) We seriously need to update the profiles on the EGSA website. Please send a new/revised profile to Julie Ooms, our Technology Chair, by Monday, August 22. Potential applicants can get a good sense of our department based on this information. Try to have fun with it! (2) On the same “Who we are” page, check out the Baylor Graduate Student list to verify the accuracy of your information. Please send any corrections to our secretary Sarah Aspen by Monday, August 22.
Also, I need to know if there are any special interest groups (20th c. Catholic writers, Poetry, French reading group, etc.) that are planning to meet this year. If you are a part of one of these groups, please let me know who the contact person is and give me a brief description so I can pass this info along to the new students. If you would like to resurrect any currently defunct groups (I’m looking at you, German reading group!), please let me know about that, too. I would also like to know if there are any new groups that would like to start meeting this fall.
And, finally, Nathan Kilpatrick and I would like to know if there are any lingering concerns from last year. We will be meeting with Drs. Barcus and Vitanza within the first few weeks of school, and it will be important to address potential problem areas as soon as possible. Please contact one of us if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
I’m looking forward to a great year!
Best,
Danielle Williams