Kansas State University

On the first day of finals
My TA gave to me
A practicum with twenty seven parts

On the second day of finals
My TA gave to me
Two voice recitals
And a practicum with twenty seven parts

On the third day of finals
My TA gave to me
Three take-home tests
Two voice recitals
And a practicum with twenty seven parts

On the forth day of finals
My TA gave to me
Four essay questions
Three take-home tests
Two voice recitals
And a practicum with twenty seven parts

On the fifth day of finals
My TA gave to me
Five problem sets
Four essay questions
Three take-home tests
Two voice recitals
And a practicum with twenty seven parts

I would keep going, but we only have five days of finals. No use adding any more work to the end of the semester.

The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of my favorite holiday songs. When our kids were younger, we would visit the home of one of the other faculty members in chemistry at CSU, together with several other chemistry faculty families. After a potluck meal, we gathered around the piano and sang songs. Twelve Days is an “action song”, and I led the kids in song by acting out each gift (I can’t play the piano, and this was the only other option). So, when I thought about a parody for the end of semester message, this song came to mind.

Certainly, finals week, like the Twelve Days, is about action. Not only is it tough on our TAs, but on our instructors and faculty alike. This college will have provided over 120,000 credit hours this semester, which translates roughly into 40,000 student-courses – those comprise a lot of final exams, practica, recitals, shows, and projects. Thank you for making these student experiences the best they can be!

My best wishes for a successful end to the semester and Happy Holidays. Thank you for all you do for K-State.

Peter

Reminder: Thesis and Dissertation Writing Retreat applications due Wednesday, Dec. 16

Nominations open for K-State Excellence in Engagement awards

Office of the Provost invites nominations for six university awards

2016 Student Employee of the Year award nominations open

Nominate summer and fall projects now for Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award

December

14-18 – Final Examinations
22 – Term Final Grades Due (5 p.m., 4 p.m. if through KSOL)

January

5 – Deadline to submit course and curriculum changes to be considered at February 4 Arts & Sciences Faculty meeting
15 – New Student Orientation & Enrollment
19 – Classes begin
25 – Last day to add a course without instructor permission

Click to find the 2015-2016 calendar under Academic Affairs

It’s not always easy to catch everything that’s happening in our college on K-State Today. Here are a collection of stories of things that made headlines in our college over the last few weeks:

Anthropology student receives Marshall Scholarship to study food systems, social sustainability

19 ArtSci Faculty Receive Development Awards and University Small Research Grants

Digital artist, photographer joins Chapman Center for Rural Studies as visiting instructor of digital humanities

Choir students perform in Carnegie Hall

ArtSci alumnae one of two selected to receive 2016 Distinguished Young Alumni award

Dorhout named Kansas State University’s interim vice president for research

Provost names search committee for interim dean of College of Arts & Sciences

Ohno family donates famed glassblower’s journals to K-State Libraries

Bryan Pinkall nominated for two Grammys

Five ArtSci students learn from summer opportunities with Chapman Scholarships

Dance program’s Tap to Togetherness focuses on positive family development with tap dance instruction

Psychological sciences department among best according to SuccessfulStudent

The goal of this eNewsletter is to be helpful and relevant to you, our ArtSci faculty and staff. If there is something we missed or should include in future issues, email your suggestions and feedback to Tom Roesler at troz@k-state.edu.

Colleagues,

Thanksgiving break is soon upon us. How remarkably fast the semester has gone! Each year for the past three years, I have shared a note about giving thanks for the talented people around us. Thanksgiving 2015 will be my fourth here in Manhattan. For our family, we have seen a number of changes in four years – changes in who is sitting around the dinner table. Nieces have been married and now have children of their own (I’m a great uncle five times now – emphasis on great). My daughters have graduated university and gone on to graduate schools. Carolyn and I lost one father and nearly lost another.

Our K-State family has also seen new arrivals and departures. I have seen changes in leadership in our College for nearly all our departments – I am excited about the new people and thankful for those who have served before them. We have also hired over 100 faculty since I started who are phenomenal additions to our K-State family, and we have said “good bye” to many others who built a foundation of great teaching, scholarship, and service for the College. We have seen changes in our outstanding support staff, and I am thankful for everyone who has made the College so productive. I am thankful for all of them – new, established, and past, alike.

I suppose that this Thanksgiving message lacks my regular epigrammatic tone, being far more reflective this year than others. Perhaps it’s because Thanksgiving is part of my favorite season: autumn. The long green days of summer yield to the cool darkness of afternoon sunsets, turning the forests and prairies golden hues before they become dusted with frost and snow. I am thoughtful about how lucky I am to be here.

So I’ll share a few lines from one of my favorite Pushkin poems and bid you a peaceful holiday:

“The fading autumn almost none admires,
Yet, reader, I am fond of her, I own,
Fond of her muted glow of half-banked fires.
Like a poor child unloved among her own
She calls to me. If anyone enquires,
Her of all seasons I hold dear alone.
There is much good in her. A frugal wooer,
My whim finds some appeal quite special to her.”

Sincerely,
Peter

Internal search for interim associate provost for diversity

November offers music, theatre and more at Kansas State University

Celebrate Geography Awareness Week, view maps in the K-State Libraries Special Collections

Register for Celebration of Women in Bioscience

Fellowships for female international students, postdocs deadline Dec. 1

Nominations for Provost’s Lecture on Excellence in Scholarship due Dec. 1

K-State Book Network announces student, faculty/staff awards

November

18 – New Transfer Student Orientation and Enrollment
23-27 – Fall Break
December

18 – New Transfer Student Orientation and Enrollment
11 – Last day of Fall 2015 semester
11 – Graduate Commencement, 1:00 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum
12 – Undergraduate Commencement, 8:30 a.m., Bramlage Coliseum
14-18 – Final Examinations
22 – Term Final Grades Due (5 p.m., 4 p.m. if through KSOL)

Click to find the 2015-2016 calendar under Academic Affairs

It’s not always easy to catch everything that’s happening in our college on K-State Today. Here are a collection of stories of things that made headlines in our college over the last few weeks:

JMC students winners in South Central Broadcast Society awards

Theatre graduate receives Rotary scholarship to research drama therapy for women with post-traumatic stress disorder

Three Arts & Sciences graduate students earn honors at Research and the State

Two ArtSci faculty receive $5,000 Iman Awards for research and teaching

Psychological sciences doctoral student receives national research award

Vocal music students win top honors at regional competition

Anthropology student finalist for Rhodes, Marshall national scholarships

$4.2 million NSF grant helps biologist gather large-scale river measurements

Two biology students place highly at Sigma Xi research conference

The goal of this eNewsletter is to be helpful and relevant to you, our ArtSci faculty and staff. If there is something we missed or should include in future issues, email your suggestions and feedback to Tom Roesler at troz@k-state.edu.