September 4, 2007
 Another academic year is upon us. This is the time of year I always look forward to, when university campuses all over the country spring to life as new students arrive for the first time and returning students reconnect with old friends and favorite faculty members.
Welcome
In the coming weeks, we have dozens of fun activities planned to welcome our students to UC San Diego. Our Alumni Association is hosting seven different picnic events for freshmen and their families all over the state. It’s a great way for incoming freshmen to meet other new students and also alumni who can offer insight and advice. During our official “Welcome Week,” students can participate in the Unolympics and attend Triton Power Hour, a solid, energetic pep rally and introduction to our university athletics’ programs. (Click here for more information on Welcome Week.) And continuing our newest tradition, we’ll hold our second annual Freshmen Convocation ceremony on September 23. This event will unite the Class of 2011 for the first time on campus and enlighten students about what it means to be a UCSD Triton.
The Freshmen Convocation will be one of the first opportunities for our students to meet our new Vice Chancellor - Student Affairs, Dr. Penny Rue. As many of you know, our former Vice Chancellor, Joseph Watson, retired last year after more than 40 years of service at UC San Diego. We searched long and hard for his replacement, and we are excited to have Dr. Rue join our team. She is energetic, innovative, creative and student-focused. She comes to us from the University of Virginia and she has a wealth of experience working with students in building a campus culture that is open and communicative. At UC San Diego, Dr. Rue will oversee the development and improvement of services that support the needs of our students including career services, intercollegiate athletics, campus recreation programs, student health and wellness and study abroad programs. She will also coordinate the implementation of appropriate recommendations to the latest student surveys.
Town Hall Meetings
Communication is one of the keys to our success at UC San Diego. This year, I’m looking forward to hosting another series of Town Hall meetings so I can hear directly from our staff, students and faculty. These meetings are an opportunity to share concerns, discuss ideas and ask questions. I will host three Town Hall meetings for staff this month – one on the general campus, one at UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest, and one at UCSD Medical Center - Thornton Hospital, La Jolla. For detailed information about these Town Hall meetings, such as time, date and location, click here. In the spring, I will hold two more Town Hall meetings for students and faculty. I encourage you to attend and look forward to hearing from you.
Campus Preparedness Month
Last May, we held a special Town Hall meeting in response to the tragic shooting deaths at Virginia Tech. We want you to know the safety of our students, faculty and staff is our priority, and we’re constantly working to update and further develop our security measures. This includes the installation of our new emergency notification system. It is a voluntary system that allows official emergency announcements to be sent to your phone via text and voice messages. I encourage you to register your phone number by clicking here.
Now is also a good time to reflect and review your emergency preparedness plans, as September is Campus Preparedness Month. To help you with your planning, the Department of Environment, Health and Safety will host an Emergency and Safety EXPO on Sept. 13 at the Price Center. For more details, click here. It’s important that we continue to work together to improve our campus security. We rely on our university community to report suspicious behavior and help us ensure that we have the safest campus environment possible.
Celebrating Staff
I hope everyone enjoyed the food, fun and festivities at the All Staff Picnic. This annual event is our way of saying thank you to our hard-working and dedicated staff for everything they do. We are fortunate to have a great team here at UC San Diego.
I’d say the first-ever UCSD Idol competition at the Staff Picnic stole the show, so to speak. Can you believe more than 35,000 votes were cast during the month-long competition? Thanks to all of our contestants, and their fans who rooted them on, for taking part in the contest. I enjoyed hearing the five finalists at the Staff Picnic, and I was impressed by each and every one of them. This gives new meaning to UCSD talent! Congratulations to Katie Spencer, an administrative specialist at Geisel Library, our first-ever Staff Idol contest winner. Also, congratulations to our runners-up Trisa Colon, Jamie Nye, Joyce McHugh and Lovella Cacho.
Campaign Closing
This year’s picnic was also special because of our recent campaign success. We are grateful to all of our generous donors, including thousands of current and former staff and faculty, who helped us achieve our fundraising goal in The Campaign for UCSD. Our faculty and staff raised $15 million of the total $1 billion. Two of the worthy funds that benefited from staff and faculty gifts include the staff development fund and an endowed scholarship fund for sons and daughters of UC San Diego employees. Campaign gifts will also support innovative research that has the potential to change lives and improve our world. They will support deserving students who otherwise would not be able to attend our university. The campaign will help UCSD make a difference in this world. Thank you to everyone who joined us in our mission of education, research and public service, and those who remain committed to our fundraising efforts.
Enjoy the rest of your summer break. The fall quarter will begin before we know it. I look forward to seeing our new and returning students, faculty and staff on campus.
With warm regards,
Marye Anne Fox
Chancellor
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