Dear Colleagues,
Welcome back to a new school year!
I hope that you all had a wonderful summer with some rest and relaxation. It has been great to start seeing some of you on campus, already busy with our incoming students.
Just as we welcome new and returning students every Fall, it is exciting to also welcome new faculty into our learning community. I am thrilled we are welcoming a fantastic group of new A&S faculty members to campus this fall.
In addition, I am pleased to share with you the A&S Annual Report for 2025-2026, which provides some of our highlights from the past year. It reminds me how grateful I am to everyone – our faculty, staff, and administrative teams – for their ongoing dedication and hard work.
I love to spread the word about and share your achievements with the Tufts community and beyond. Recent accomplishments from all our faculty can be found on the Faculty Highlights and Faculty in the News pages of our website. Student and staff highlights are also very welcome! I encourage everyone to please continue to share news of your research, scholarship, teaching, awards, and other activities with the Communications team at news@tufts.edu.
You should have also received an invitation for the A&S Jumbo Achievements Empanada & Wine Party on Thursday, September 24 from 3:00 – 5:00pm at Alex’s Place, Tisch Library Roof. Please submit your achievements and RSVP to the event here. If you have recently published a book make sure to share with us so we can showcase it on the Ballou Hall bookshelves.
On the strategic planning front, we have been busy this summer moving key efforts forward. Below are some updates from this summer:
Open Comment Period Coming this September
Thanks for all the feedback you provided through the multiple in person and virtual listening sessions this past Spring. And a huge shout-out to the working group co-leads who have been working tirelessly and steadfastly over the last roughly 18 months. Faculty and staff will be invited for one last feedback opportunity around mid September. At that time, the near-final plan will be posted online with a Qualtrics feedback form before being finalized.
A&S Strategic Plan Focus Areas: All.
Final FY 2026 School Fundraising Numbers
The School of Arts and Sciences’ Advancement team hit it out of the ballpark last fiscal year. The school surpassed both its initial fundraising goal ($55 million) and its “reach goal” ($70 million) to raise over $77 million! This was thanks to the generosity of our alumni, donors, and the incredible commitment of Matt Scheck, Senior Director of Development, and his amazing team.
A&S Strategic Plan Focus Areas: All.
TB175: Foundational Elements and Drivers #2: Improve our financial and administrative processes.
Undergraduate Writing Requirement Retreat
Over the summer, a group of 21 dedicated faculty and staff met to review the A&S Strategic Plan Undergraduate Curriculum & Co-Curriculum Focus Group’s work during the 2025-2026 academic year, including peer data, survey input from faculty, and input from students. During the retreat participants fleshed out goals for expository writing courses. We also discussed the faculty governance process to propose changes to requirements. The group collectively drafted a proposal that has been submitted to the A&S Curriculum Committee in preparation for a September 23 faculty vote.
A&S Strategic Plan Focus Areas: Curriculum and Co-Curriculum, Student Success.
TB175: Pillar 1 (Educating Responsible Leaders) Priority 2 (Promoting academic innovation and curricular flexibility, within and across schools).
Launch of New A&S Faculty Awards
I am excited to announce that we are launching four new awards for faculty starting this academic year. Two of the faculty awards specifically acknowledge the contributions of our part-time and full-time non-tenure stream faculty, another faculty award acknowledges service, and a final faculty award rewards curricular innovation. You can find more details here.
A&S Strategic Plan Focus Areas: All.
TB175: Foundational Elements and Drivers #1: Invest in our faculty and staff and preserve the unique culture of Tufts.
I hope this school year is filled with professional and personal accomplishments, and warmth and joy for all,
Bárbara
Bárbara M. Brizuela
Dean, School of Arts and Sciences
Chair, A&S Strategic Plan 2026 Committee
Professor, Education
