From the Dean: Welcome to spring semester 2025

Dear Mary Frances Early College of Education staff and faculty members,

Welcome to spring semester 2025! I hope each of you found time to do something you enjoy during the break between fall and spring semesters.

Next month, we will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the naming of our college for Mary Frances Early. The Mary Frances Early Lecture will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4 in Mahler Hall at the Georgia Center; all are welcome. We will have a small celebration in the College on the actual anniversary day, which is Tuesday, Feb. 25. Watch this space for more details. We will also be announcing the inaugural cohort of Mary Frances Early Scholars—five students who will each receive a $5,000 scholarship, thanks to generous donors to the Mary Frances Early Endowment!

In addition to honoring Ms. Early, I look forward to celebrating the nine businesses owned or operated by College alumni in the Bulldog 100, our DEI Conference on Friday, Feb. 14, continuing the work of the DEI committee to re-envision our work in that area, the Research Conference on Tuesday, April 29, and many other events and activities this spring.

Mid-year is a good time to take stock of where we are personally and collectively. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by grandiose resolutions for the new year, but it’s important to pause and check in with ourselves and our immediate community members to celebrate what is working and make course corrections when things aren’t working. What is working for you? You is both singular and plural here—the plural may be your research team, you and your TA, your program, your department, you and your supervisor, your staff team, or another community within which you work. Can you articulate what is working for you so you can keep doing it and maybe share with others? What is not working? What changes could you (again, singular and plural) make to improve things? Sometimes changes involve little tweaks, and other times they warrant a courageous conversation.

There are currently two ways you can contribute to strengthening our collective community:

• Complete the DEI survey
• Suggest topics for college-wide meetings or COEfyi posts

We thrive as a community when we’re functioning optimally as individuals and as communities of varying sizes, collaborating and supporting one another, and embracing change as an opportunity for growth. I look forward to a rewarding spring semester in which we continue making a difference in the lives of others.

Denise A. Spangler