President's Message: Welcome to Fall Quarter, 2022!

  I am so proud and honored to be starting my seventh year leading this incredible community and I want to welcome all of you to the start of the 2022-2023 academic year. And what a promising year this will be!    Last year, we finalized a five-year strategic plan – PAU’S Path to Inclusive Excellence. This incredible work clarifies our mission and vision, and outlines our institutional values. I am excited to announce that one of those values – the value of community – is PAU’s theme this year. Community means that we are unifying around our mission and vision, all while supporting and celebrating each other in our mutual successes!    During the pandemic, we all experienced loss and grief—from losing loved ones to losing opportunities to connect with our colleagues, friends, and family members. While we cannot get that time back, we can renew our commitment to each other and to this incredible community in which we have the privilege to study and work. This coming year, we will have ample opportunities to connect and collaborate. Whether you are a new or continuing student, a faculty member, an alum, or one of our amazing staff, I believe our community will be further fortified and invigorated by this coming together in-person, on campus, and virtually.    Speaking of coming together, I am thrilled to announce that we will have a new place to gather and build community when our Mountain View Campus opens this fall. It will house PAU’s Gronowski Center and the E-Clinic, which offer sliding-scale mental health services to the community by PAU students under the supervision of licensed mental health professionals. Classrooms, faculty offices, and other student support services will also be available at this site. The Mountain View campus will also be a hub for community workshops and events.   I am excited about this year–we will have so many opportunities to connect. To learn more about community offerings, I encourage you to visit PAU’s Events Calendar and to read the University’s monthly newsletter, PAU News.     As we continue to navigate the labyrinth that is our world, please remember to show each other grace, kindness, and care–which is at the very core of what it means to be a community. I look forward to seeing what we–as a community–can accomplish and build together!   Maureen O'Connor President Palo Alto University