Greetings from the President’s Office!What a tough stretch of weather we’ve been dealing with these past few weeks! I’d like to express my deepest appreciation to all of the folks who keep the sidewalks, roads and highways clear during this time of year. They help us all maintain our schedules and allow us to get to work and keep moving forward. I also wish to thank the students, faculty and staff for your flexibility and understanding during the storm closures we’ve endured lately. I’m sure it’s difficult to accomplish everything when the schedule is so adversely affected by weather.Recently we had a very successful visit to Arizona (good timing, right?) to meet with several alumni and friends of VCSU in groups and personal visits. Larry Robinson and Kim Hesch from the VCSU Foundation Office, along with Larry Grooters, former coach and dean of the School of Education, and I had a wonderful opportunity to visit and reconnect with alumni of all ages from January 31 to February 3.We had gatherings in Peoria, Mesa, Viewpoint, and Sun Lakes. I sincerely enjoyed meeting and visiting with so many wonderful alumni and former faculty and coaches. The stories and memories shared were so very special to hear and echoed a common theme of appreciation for time spent at VCSU. Providing academic and social preparation for a career and life are at the core of what we do in academia. Seeing the lasting results and lifelong friendships that develop during the university years is gratifying indeed. For me, it was simply a tremendous opportunity to meet and get to know so many folks, and to share our success stories and plans for the future. I look forward to getting to know everyone better in the days, months and years to come.As we move forward this semester, we continue to engage in activities that will help take the institution forward: work with the legislature to share our vision and garner important financial support for the institution, meeting with all academic units on campus, exploration of revised and new curricular programs for our students, efforts to increase our scholarship awards to attract and retain high-quality students and address the financial needs of our entire student population, opportunities for student leadership and campus involvement, and athletic success. I look forward to sharing details on these activities as we move ahead. In the meantime, stay warm. Go Vikings!