Welcome back to campus and another meaningful semester in the College of Education. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful and restful holiday break.
As we enter 2023, there is much to look forward to as we continue our shared journey of learning, discovery, growth and impact in and for our communities.
Over the break, I spent time reflecting on both the challenges we have navigated and the opportunities we have pursued over these past few years. Where we could have avoided adversity, we instead leaned into it. We have pressed ourselves as a college to be in service to education and health at a critical time when what we do has an acute impact on the future of our fields. We have been tenacious in making progress no matter the obstacles, and through each experience, we have adapted, learned and come together in support of one another. We are, more than ever, a united community.
In this moment, we find ourselves at a significant inflection point: a place in time that puts us at the center of essential efforts to advance effective policies and practices that improve outcomes for individuals, families, schools and communities.
Now and in the coming years, we must continue to be vigilant in our preparation and resolved in our efforts to reimagine education and expand on the collective foundation we have built. We will boldly explore new ways to partner with communities to deliver cutting-edge research and practice that respond to a diversity of needs, assets and populations in Texas and beyond.
In our teaching, research and service mission, we will continue to combat the deep sources of inequity that have perpetuated social disadvantage in education and health — work that is undeniably among the most urgent in our fields. As a diverse community of scholars, staff and students, and with the deep roots of interdisciplinarity that characterize our college, we are ready for this.
Please join me in welcoming one another back to Bellmont, to Sánchez and to the entire UT campus as we renew ourselves and embrace this work, together. Let us be grateful for what we have started here and ensure it will continue to change the world.
CHARLES R. MARTINEZ, JR., Dean
College of Education | The University of Texas at Austin
