Just like incoming freshmen are getting to know the Rice University campus during O-Week, newly hired faculty spent two days in an orientation of their own before classes start.
They were greeted by President Reginald DesRoches, who spoke about the university’s major initiatives and expressed his excitement to work with the new faculty.
“I want to welcome you to Rice, and I’m thrilled you’re here and excited to welcome you to our vibrant and growing community,” DesRoches said. “Each of you have already demonstrated exceptional talent, creativity and commitment to your field. Now by choosing Rice, you’ve chosen to bring that energy to a community that values both individual excellence as well as selective purpose.”
The university is experiencing exceptional growth in its enrollment, which is matched by a similar increase in faculty. Fifty-seven tenured and tenure-track faculty will join Rice this academic year, and 40 nontenure track faculty will join Rice this calendar year.
“We’re growing our student body at a rate that nobody’s growing as well as having an unprecedented number of faculty in the past three years, and we’re not stopping yet,” DesRoches said. “We still have more to do as we grow the university and expand our impact.”
The three-year mark serves as a benchmark for comparison as it denotes when DesRoches was appointed as president and Amy Dittmar was confirmed as the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
Dittmar followed DesRoches’ welcome by providing an overview of the university’s goals as well as conveying her confidence in the new Owls’ superb talent and promise.
“Everything we do we want to be excellent, and so each of you were hand-selected in that way,” Dittmar said. “You’re not only great in your field, but you fit within our vision for the university.”
She described Rice’s strategic plan, Momentous, with a strong emphasis on both teaching and research.
“We aspire to both premier teaching and premier research, and when we say that, there’s a few subtleties in there,” she said. “We have a long history and pride in how strongly we support our teaching as well as our research. We do that through a strong, empowered campus culture, amazingly dedicated staff and thinking about how we can utilize responsible AI throughout our endeavors in the classroom, in our operations and in our research.”
Day 1 of orientation continued with presentations from the university’s leadership and key departments to help the participants gain a deeper understanding of Rice’s culture and the collaborative efforts of its many offices.
Day 2 was facilitated by the Center for Teaching Excellence, and it included sessions to enhance the faculty’s understanding about teaching at Rice and how to support both inclusivity and student success.
The orientation brought a spotlight to the palpable excitement for the new faculty’s presence and their capability to enhance Rice’s upward trajectory as a changemaker, which was best summarized by DesRoches.
“At Rice, success is measured not only in what can you achieve but also by the impact that you have on those around you,” he said. “That includes our students, our colleagues, our city and the world beyond. Rice’s success depends on the quality and the dedication of our faculty.
“I’m confident that you will contribute in countless and meaningful ways. Your talent, expertise and leadership are exactly why you are here. As you begin this new chapter, I encourage you to be bold in your scholarship, be generous in your teaching and be engaged in our incredible community both on campus as well as in Houston. You’ve been chosen to join Rice because we believe you will not only enrich our university but you’ll help shape our future.”