Welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful holiday and you are ready to go for another busy semester. If I had to pick a theme as 2014 begins at the Law College, it would have to be “change.”
This semester, we welcome a new Dean of Student Affairs and Administration, Dr. Marc Pearce. Marc comes to us after clerking for many years for Judge Warren Urbom in the Federal District Court in Lincoln. He has a JD and Ph.D. from UNL and he is responsible for student academic life at the Law College. Marc is the person to go to for questions about academic life and scholarships, including anything about classes, the honor code, financial aid. He will also be teaching the 1L skills section. But even without any questions, please stop by his office in the coming days and weeks to introduce yourself and say hello.
We also welcome a new Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy, Mollie Cox. Mollie oversees the website, social media, and related areas. She has an MBA and a lot of experience in her areas of expertise.
Marc Pearce is in Glenda Pierce’s former office, and Mollie Cox is in one of the adjacent offices.
Finally, these new hires have allowed us to do some reorganization. Molly Brummond is now the Assistant Dean for Student & Alumni Relations and Annual Giving. Molly will now be overseeing the community aspects of the student experience at the Law College, including student organizations and most student events.
Some change that we have experienced since December, however, was not planned and is very sad. On January 2nd, one of our staff members in the library, Cheryl Graham, passed away suddenly and very unexpectedly. Cheryl was an integral part of the law library and the Law College and we will miss her dearly. Please feel free to talk to me, Professor Richard Leiter, or anyone else on the faculty or staff about this if you would like. We are in the process of considering how to honor Cheryl’s memory appropriately at the College.
I wish you all the best as we start another semester. We have terrific speakers coming in, lots of excellent career services programming, and we continue to try to find ways to enhance the student experience, academic and otherwise, at the Law College and I am always interested in your thoughts and ideas.