Dear Colleagues,
I hope the summer provided you with time to relax, refresh, travel and spend time with family and friends. While the months that separate our spring and fall semesters offer a slightly slower pace on our Hill, I appreciate the hard work of our faculty and staff to fervently plan for the academic year ahead.
During the last three months, our campus hosted thousands of participants for academic, athletic and interest-based summer camps. These activities give us an important opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the broader community and serve as a valuable recruitment mechanism, exposing potential future Hilltoppers to all that WKU has to offer.
Campus improvements, particularly at the top of The Hill, charged ahead this summer. Our Hilltop Restoration Project will make the north end of campus more accessible and easier to navigate and will provide unique spaces for educational and social activities to take place, all while enhancing the most beautiful campus in the Commonwealth.
In July, we welcomed 81 first-year students to campus as they began our five-week Summer Scholars program, offering them experiential learning opportunities and critical preparation for success as undergraduate students. Also in July, I wrapped up my summer 2022 Big Red Road Trip. As I once again traveled throughout the state, I found incredible support for our institution through meetings with elected officials, school administrators, alumni and more. WKU’s steadfast commitment to deepening partnerships across the state continues to yield extraordinary success – for our students, for our university and for our region.
As we prepare for the 2022-2023 academic year, I hope that you plan to join me, in person, at our annual Faculty and Staff Convocation on Monday, August 15, at 10:00 am in Van Meter Auditorium. Together, we will reflect on the previous academic year and look ahead to what promises to be another remarkable year on our Hill.
We will also kick off our annual M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan activities that week as we welcome many of our incoming first-year students to campus. The start of the collegiate journey presents an exciting time for many of our students, but for some, it represents a period of heightened anxiety and uncertainty as they leave home for the first time and engage in a new and unfamiliar environment. M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan remains a vital tool to assist their transition and ease their concerns as they connect with peers, faculty and staff. Recently, you received an email about serving as a M.A.S.T.E.R. Plan Cluster Facilitator. I encourage you to consider participating this year by filling out this form.
Finally, I hope you and your families will make plans to join our campus community for our second annual Topper Fest, set for Friday, August 19, at 5:30 pm on WKU’s South Lawn. Each faculty and staff member will receive two free drinks (with WKU ID), and food will be available from Aramark as well as community food trucks. We will enjoy live music from The Downtown Band, and the evening will conclude with fireworks at dark. You can learn more about Topper Fest here.
I hope you enjoy the remainder of your summer, and I look forward to seeing you at Faculty and Staff Convocation.
Go Tops!
Best,
Timothy C. Caboni
