December 2024 Message from the Dean
Dear colleagues,
As 2024 comes to a close, I hope you have plans for a bit of downtime and special activities that mark the holiday season. This is always a time of reflection as we head into a new calendar year. As I reflect on the year, I am grateful for everyone’s hard work and dedication, but also for the sense of community here. I am constantly hearing stories about different ways people in our Ross community go far above and beyond to support each other, our students, or those beyond our Ross community, such as scholars at other universities or members of the broader Ann Arbor/Detroit community. This community also allowed us to accomplish so much this past year. While I won’t catalog all of that here, it is remarkable to think about the strong growth in the visibility of our faculty/research based on press mentions (check out the information Roman pulled together on recent faculty research, too), locking down our LA location, moving forward on our Executive Residence project, strong growth in our BBA and FTMBA applications, a No. 2 ranking for our Online MBA Program, implementing significant upgrades to our BBA curriculum, and rolling out a new compensation system for our staff — all this calendar year. And again, this is just a partial list. This means there are many people working collaboratively to move the Ross School forward. This community orientation is such a hallmark of Ross — and it makes me very proud to have colleagues like you.
Relatedly, I would like to thank everyone who took time out to celebrate the season at the Ross Holiday Party on Dec. 5. A special thanks to our amazing Ross Events team for organizing a stellar event. It was fun to see so many of you there, and it was heartening to help wrap all the gifts donated as part of the Holiday Sharing Program. This year, through the generosity of our faculty and staff, we exceeded our goals and provided gifts for 25 students from eight families associated with Ann Arbor Public Schools. Many thanks to the Ross Holiday Sharing Program Committee and more than 25 volunteers who helped to collect the gifts, sort them, manage the gift-wrapping room at the party, and deliver all the packages to the schools.
Also, in the vein of sharing good news, I want to highlight that the university recently announced the addition of a paid floating holiday, effective Jan 1, 2025. This is for benefits-eligible regular non-bargained-for faculty and staff and is a great way for people to celebrate a holiday that is especially meaningful on a personal level. Please reach out to your manager or consult the U-M Standard Practice Guide for additional information on eligibility and how this holiday may be used.
Finally, on a very practical note, I wanted to share that our Marketing and Communications team is working on a webpage for AI-related activities at Ross. To that end, we are gathering information on teaching, research, and executive insights (e.g., speakers on AI you may have brought in, practice conferences you may have presented at, and articles for a practice audience) you have been engaged with. Can you please take a few minutes to share anything you have been working on related to AI via this form? We will use this information to help with the webpage content and organization.
When we return from break in January, I look forward to connecting with many of you again in person. As a reminder, my upcoming office hours for the month of January can be found on the dean’s office webpage. In January, the in-person office hours for faculty and staff will be held in the Davidson Winter Garden on the following dates and times:
- Tuesday, Jan. 7 from 4:15-5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Jan. 14 from 4-4:45 p.m.
- Tuesday, Jan. 21 from 4:15-5 p.m.
The Zoom office hours for faculty and staff will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 4:15-5 p.m. You can join the session via this link.
My very best wishes to you for a relaxing and festive holiday season!
Warm regards,
Sharon
