ROBERT MORGAN, Dean, College of Health and Human Sciences
Wow, what a first year. The time really flew by, but I learned so much about SIU Carbondale and our college. Most notably I learned what great people we have here in the College of Health and Human Sciences. I would put the work ethic, dedication and commitment to excellence of our faculty and staff against any faculty and staff in the country. We have truly great people across the college landscape.
As I spoke to college faculty and staff to kick off the new year (for those interested the entirety of that presentation, you can find it on YouTube), I developed a diagram that I believe captures our uniqueness – our collective efforts at changing and enriching lives.
All of you, as alumni of this college, are in the business of making lives better. Whether that be in health or behavioral health, the safe, efficient and effective transportation of people from point A to point B, or wellness and safety more generally, we collectively have committed our careers to the service of others. That is what makes us unique, and it certainly makes us special. Although we come past his time, I believe Albert Einstein had all of us in mind when he said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
As we kick off another year, we have much to celebrate. We again increased our enrollment in the college such that we continue to account for approximately 35% of the SIU enrollment. With 3,035 undergraduates and 669 graduate students enrolled for fall 2022, we saw a 2.15% increase when many colleges across the country are in decline. We had a tremendous College Connection event to welcome new and returning students back to campus, including a dunk tank whereby we awarded over $5,000 in book scholarships to students who dunked faculty, school directors and me. We gave out numerous raffle prizes (including free flights courtesy of CapeAir), and we served over 120 pizzas. We also hosted an open house to highlight our new learning living communities (LLC) in Mae Smith. That’s right, we took over the entire tower (minus one floor) for our LLC. We branded the tower, decked out the patio (cornhole, pingpong table, grill) to provide our students with the best in living conditions. And starting in September, each school will be conducting academic events every month throughout the year to also ensure a rich learning environment within the LLC.
I close with an invitation. We will be hosting an alumni, faculty and staff appreciation tailgate during homecoming weekend (Oct. 15). Please plan to join us and enjoy some good Southern Illinois BBQ and a cold beverage of your choosing before we beat Western Illinois.
Best Wishes and Go Dawgs,
Robert Morgan, Ph.D.
robert.d.morgan@siu.edu