August 8, 2022

This will be something like my 125th Monday Morning Message as Director. Most of you should know by now, Eric Toman will be taking on the responsibility of interim Director starting next Monday, August 15.  We’ve got a lot going on, though, so I’ve volunteered to Eric that I’ll help him however I can as he gets up to speed with his new role.  It feels like I’m coming up fast at the end of my 1600-meter stretch of a 4x1600 meter relay and am now entering the changeover box to hand the baton off.  The changeover is a bit tricky.  When I was initially appointed school leader, it was in May, and I had the summer to get acclimated.  Eric is taking the baton during what is one of the busiest stretches of the year, plus he is vacating the Associate Director role which has considerable responsibility that needs to be covered right now.  This is going to be a challenging transition, but I know Eric will do great and I know many in our community are also prepared to help Eric succeed and get going.  Thank you for your support and understanding.

Being Director of the School has been the most challenging and the most fulfilling job I’ve had so far at Ohio State.  I have an incredibly deep fondness for the School, our faculty, staff and students and the work we do.  I have enjoyed each day trying to solve problems and support our community, although I must share that Workday is a mid-level manager’s nightmare because you can see the problems but are relatively powerless to correct them (or the time scale for corrections could be years).  Despite the challenges, I’ve been blessed to work with a great team, and I’d like to call out a few by name:  Renee Johnston, Trish Taylor, Mary Capoccia, Molly Bean, Joe Campbell, Kylienne Shaul, Olivia Ameredes, Dennis Wilt, Eric Hamilton, Esther DeBusk and David Hanselmann.  Thank you all and many others for what you do to support the School and for making my job doable.  I will miss working daily with this team.

So, what’s next for me?  First, I have to pass a background check.  So, after 9 and a half years of service, the first message I received from Ohio State regarding transitioning back to the faculty is a request to complete a background check.  Maybe the assumption is that I’ve used these years in my leadership role to engage in criminal activity?  More than likely, there’s a Workday box that has to be checked without regard to context or need and I’ve got to go through this hoop.  I have sent a message up the chain recommending that this be reviewed and assessed whether it’s necessary, so maybe when Eric steps down he won’t have this hoop.

Assuming I pass my background check, I’m looking forward to doing something new and creative with this last third of my career at Ohio State.  Recently, I’ve become increasingly envious of some SENR faculty during our annual review check-ins, and I am anxious to once again be a creative scholar.  Through my observations of SENR faculty, I’ve got some good role models to try and emulate.  For instance, if I can be half as creative and have half as much fun as Ramiro Berardo is having right now, I’ll be very fulfilled.  I look forward to teaching sustainability, working with OSU Extension, and conducting applied research related to community, climate and development. And I will continue to provide quality academic service/leadership (albeit at a much smaller scale).

I will be taking on one new leadership role this coming year.  I will be serving as treasurer for the Whetstone Academy for the Performing Arts (WAPA), the parent booster organization supporting the Whetstone band, chorus and theatre programs.  My son will be a sophomore at Whetstone High School (the Columbus City School north of campus), and I’m looking forward to supporting his activities and being an engaged parent.  Thankfully, he’s OK with that.  I’ve tried to maintain some work/life balance these last nine years, but I look forward to recalibrating a bit to be there for family and myself more over the next couple of years.

In closing, thank you everyone for allowing me the opportunity to serve you all as Director of SENR.  I’m not going away and look forward to remaining part of our community in a new role.  Best wishes.