Our piece of the pie

To celebrate the recent Pi Day and give folks a break from my typical blog topics list, I'll share a few suggestions of how to better understand your piece of the pie. 

It's simple, really. You can feed your need for big picture alignment and sense of belonging by being involved and invested in what's happening around you. And by sharing your feedback. 

We have a few opportunities to become fully engaged; there are two big town halls approaching that I hope are on your radar to attend. 

Mark your calendars for March 28 and April 6, 2023.

First is Mason President Washington's academic town hall. On Tuesday, March 28 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom, President Washington will connect with all Mason academic unit faculty and staff; we would like to encourage our Mason Science community to participate.

If you haven't gotten the chance to read the recently released Mason Strategic Direction document (view the accessible version), spring break is the perfect time to explore Mason's overall plan and details. I'm counting on us scientists to bring some good questions and insights forward.

All attendees are strongly encouraged to attend in person, schedule permitting. For those unable to do so, the President’s town hall will be livestreamed through Zoom. The link, as well as the password, should any participants be prompted to enter one, are provided in this week’s newsletter and calendar emails.

Then, on April 6, all Mason Science faculty, staff, and students-- please join us for our college's strategic planning town hall. I'm really excited to hear about the progress made thus far by the members of the working group and steering committee. We all owe these 'pie bakers' our gratitude for the many, many hours spent to date to get us to this point. Again, bring the questions and feedback to help further define our recipe for success.

Attending both of these sessions will be quite helpful to see our relationship to the broader Mason picture--how the college's proposed mission, vision, values, and objectives, (our piece of the pie), fit in with Mason's overarching plan. We'll also explain how these elements help guide our strategies and goals, and also reveal some of the proposed measurements we will undertake to achieve them. 

Most importantly, we are counting on your input to further bake this effort.

Pi isn't just something in the sky. It's an actual number. Ok, so I'm mixing up pi and pie analogies, but hopefully you get my point. Our plan isn't just some recipe we've thrown together. It's a complex layering of input and feedback from hundreds of our Mason Science faculty, staff, student, alumni, and partner points of view, carefully and painstakingly reviewed to bring forth something important and necessary to connect, align, and inspire us all.

During these sessions you'll get a sense of the details behind 'our 3.14.' It's time to come together to celebrate our piece of the pie. 

Hope to see you there.

FMW