WKU News

Dear Colleagues:

Thank you to everyone who attended our Faculty and Staff Convocation and picnic last week. It was a terrific opportunity to celebrate our successes as a university, share the direction in which we are headed this year, and honor those individuals selected from across WKU to receive individual staff and faculty awards. I will continue to reiterate many of the key discussion points from our morning together and provide updates throughout the year. For those unable to attend our gathering, you can view the entire address here: https://www.wku.edu/convocation/

As we begin a new academic year on the Hill, we have a strong foundation on which to build thanks to your collective work during the past two years. Students are at the heart of everything we do this semester, this year, and for the next ten years. With our continued focus on thoughtful and personal attention to every student on our campus, we will move our institution forward, increase the success of our student body and elevate our region and our state.

Many of you have spoken with me about our student connectedness as a University. I appreciate your revitalized energy and individual efforts to make the WKU Experience transformative for our Hilltoppers. Our students begin a new journey today. Whether it’s their first semester or their last on our Hill, today they begin acclimating to a new schedule, coming to know new faculty and adjusting to new living arrangements. This week, and the next several weeks that follow, is a time of transition and when they need our support the most.

As we do everything we can to support our students’ beginning, I ask that the same goes for our new faculty and staff colleagues. Let’s be aware, observant and fast to lend a hand or word of support when needed to the newest members of the WKU Family. In the same way we have our students’ backs, it’s important that we also have each other’s backs. That means we challenge one another, but it also means we can count on each other for help when needed.

We are in the business of changing the lives of the students we serve. Universities engage in activities that serve many constituencies. However, at our core, we are here because we believe in the transformational power of education. The work we do is a calling, and I’m so glad that you have answered the call to change the trajectory of our students’ lives.  

Have a great start to the new school year!

Best,

Timothy C. Caboni