I hope everyone had a wonderful break and are ready for the final push in 2025. After an extended weekend, including an additional day without meetings thanks to President Pines’ generosity, this is a week to catch up on things by meeting with individual team members. I continue to make my rounds to departments, visiting two of them this week. There are still so many people I have yet to meet and here we are already celebrating the end of the semester with the AGNR Winter Celebration on Wednesday!
Before break, Xiaoping Zhu and I met at the Virginia-Maryland Regional Veterinary College with Dean Givens and his team, members of the Maryland Veterinary Medical Association, Secretary Atticks and Deputy Secretary Connelly, and Maryland Farm Bureau’s Parker Welch and Jo-Ann Chason for a tour and discussion about the importance of rural veterinarians. Over the break, I met my local, rural veterinarian for the first time and had some of the same conversation about veterinarian shortages especially in rural areas. Hopefully we can identify some creative solutions to solve these challenges.
I can’t believe we are already to the point where students are preparing for final exams and project presentations. I appreciate the invitations to hear students defend their theses, make class presentations, and see the completed studio projects. I look forward to attending as many as my schedule permits.
I am ready for Giving Tuesday and will donate to a new fund in the college to help assist with emergency fund needs. Often, this need is food related, but not always. I am a big fan of the college tradition of collecting food donations at the Winter Celebration and am especially grateful to the Dean’s Student Advisory Council for partnering with us this year to make sure all donations make their way to the campus food pantry.
Thursday, I head to Annapolis for the Governor’s Intergovernmental Committee on Agriculture. This will be the first time I am available to meet with the Committee in person. Remote or hybrid meetings certainly make attendance more likely for most meetings, but it is nice to meet in person when possible. I continue to meet with peers from other agencies recognizing how busy everyone is.
We can’t complain about the weather given what others saw over the weekend. I hope everyone gets out to enjoy what’s left of fall!