Quarterly Updates from the EVP

Dear W&M Colleagues, 

Dedicated teams across the university are working hard to drive Vision 2026 to its successful conclusion and set the groundwork for the next 25 years. I am pleased to spotlight a few key updates from major operational units.

Construction fencing has come down in many areas of campus, revealing new learning and living spaces designed to serve students for years to come. Integrated Science Center 4 opened as the new home for W&M’s first new school in five decades, the School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics, bolstering learning in STEM’s most rapidly evolving fields. The Mackesy Sports Performance Center, freshly dedicated on Charter Day, provides new locker rooms and strength training, sports medicine, and practice space for student-athletes. Meanwhile, across campus at the Wren Preservation project, plasterwork and roofing are complete, with foundation and waterproofing work underway and a target completion date by Commencement.

Since Monroe Hall became the first of our historic buildings to be heated and cooled with geothermal energy in 2024, more than 530 geothermal wells have been installed on campus, saving the university up to $1 million annually and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. The university is now considering how best to expand the geothermal well system on campus. The town-gown relationship is flourishing, too, and a recent land swap between William & Mary and the city of Williamsburg will help preserve the College Woods, especially the environmentally sensitive South College Woods, in perpetuity.

Recognizing that our people are our most precious resource, Chief Human Resources Officer Anne Roemer continues her listening tour to inform unit priorities and goal setting. She is making sure that the University Human Resources team is positioned to support employees and offer opportunities for W&M faculty and staff, such as career pathways and professional development.

W&M IT is focused on improving critical systems and resources. More than six months since the launch of Workday, the project team is launching new modules that support budgeting, learning, and compensation tools for employees. Most critically, the team promotes continuous improvement for Workday by actively listening to community feedback, addressing issues quickly, and optimizing the efficiencies this system was designed to deliver. Separately, IT has developed plans to improve network resiliency and redundancy.

Finally, I hope you saw President Rowe’s message detailing the astonishing successes W&M has achieved under Vision 2026 and outlining the spring kickoff of the next strategic planning process, focused on securing national preeminence. I invite you to get involved in those conversations and to share your unique perspective to help plan for W&M’s future. This is all the more important during the Year of Civic Leadership, during which we recognize that wisdom is best deployed in service to the common good.

Since Charter Day, a certain phrase continues to ring in my ear. Honorary alumnus and documentarian Ken Burns quoted the last lines of his very first film, words spoken by 20th century playwright Arthur Miller: “Maybe you, too, could add something that would last and be beautiful.”

William & Mary embodies 333 years of somethings beautiful shared by members of our community. It is our responsibility in Finance & Administration to build and maintain an environment that supports, reflects, and engages with this living legacy. It’s up to all of us to add our own something beautiful as we go.

Yours in William & Mary success, 

Mike Todd
Executive Vice President

Nominations for the 2026 Charles and Virginia Duke Award are now open. Given annually since 1997, this award honors an employee who has provided exceptional service to the university either within a year or throughout their career. Submissions are due by 5 p.m. on February 27.

W&M's Environmental Health & Safety team recently launched the Safety Recognition Program during Lab Safety Week. W&M Safety Champions demonstrate an exceptional commitment to fostering a safe learning, research, and work environment. Nominations may be submitted by supervisors, peers, or colleagues.

Lab Safety Week combines hands-on activities with clear resources to strengthen safe practices. Congratulations to the EH&S team for another successful year of programming, and to Applied Science graduate student Aidan Lucas, the inaugural recipient of the Safety Champion award. Aidan was nominated for his quick action after

Photo courtesy of Kisa White

another student noticed a fire and for being a consistent advocate for safety.

W&M's Workday Project Team is implementing Phase II this spring, beginning with the Learning and Advanced Compensation modules. The impact on employees outside of UHR and the Budget Office will be much smaller than that of Phase I.

Faculty and staff will see a change in how training is delivered — Workday Learning will replace Cornerstone Learning and launch on February 23. Later in the spring, the annual merit process will shift into Workday via the Advanced Compensation module, replacing the previous spreadsheet-driven approach. Supervisors, department heads, and those assisting them will feel the biggest change; general employees won't engage with Advanced Compensation directly. Targeted communication and training will be available for those impacted ahead of the cycle in May, and key dates for Phase II can be found on the Workday website.

A cross-functional team from academic and student offices recently met with implementation partners to discuss the readiness, engagement, and implementation plan for Workday Student. These conversations mark an important step toward modernizing the student systems at W&M and will help prepare the university for upcoming initiatives. As the planning progresses, the project team will keep the campus community updated and share more details.

How to Stay Informed & Get Help

For ongoing updates (including Phase II).

For micro‑learnings, job aids, training recordings, and the issue log.

For questions & support tickets.

Coming soon: Updated Campus Signage

University wayfinding is getting a makeover! Signage across campus, including street names, vehicular signage, and gateway monuments, will be updated this summer.

The new signage is designed intentionally to help students, staff, and first-time visitors navigate the W&M campus quickly, efficiently, and, most importantly, safely.

In Case You Missed It: MarComm Launches W&M Brand Hub

A brand is more than a collection of logos, colors, and fonts — it is the story we tell together about William & Mary. University Marketing & Communications launched a refreshed brand hub with guidance and resources to help our community express W&M stories consistently. If you need a logo, colors, or more information

about our brand, this is your one-stop shop. Also good to know: to provide faster and more efficient services, there is a new centralized request form for marketing, communications, and event-related requests.

The National Association of College Auxiliary Services recently awarded W&M Dining and Auxiliary Services the Edward R. Golden Award for Inclusive Excellence for their Flavors Without Borders program. The initiative celebrates global cultures through food and collaborates with multicultural student organizations. W&M Dining worked closely with students to co-design each menu, trained staff on the cultural significance of dishes, and created space for students to share personal narratives alongside the meals.

W&M is proud. Congratulations, W&M Dining and Auxiliary Services!

Photos by Tia Rose

"One must have a mind of winter

To regard the frost and the boughs

Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;"

— "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens

As William & Mary navigates an unusually frigid and snowy winter, Facilities staff has cleared pathways, repaired burst pipes, and cleared doorways of falling ice.

How do they do it? Traditionally, Grounds & Gardens used granular salt ice melt. This wasn’t a perfect solution, as the salts can stain pathways and wash down into waterways. So the team decided to try another ice melt more commonly used in colder regions of the country: beet juice brine, a by-product of the sugar beet industry.

The beet juice brine was first used in the winter of 2024, and it proved very effective at melting packed ice. But as the W&M community broached the cleared pathways, some began to notice a very unfortunate side effect of the brine: it smelled.

To the surprise of faculty, staff, students, and the Grounds & Gardens team, the brine came with an unpleasant odor that stubbornly stuck around. Fortunately, this is not a team that gives up easily! Grounds & Gardens has adjusted the beet juice brine with a citrus-based additive, and look forward to testing the new solution — as soon as we get one more hit of wintery weather.

Thank you, Facilities Operations!