December Faculty and Staff Newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you had a restful and well-deserved Thanksgiving break. As we head into the final stretch of the semester, I want to take a moment to reflect on the strong finish we’re building together.

In just the past few weeks, we’ve seen outstanding examples of CAHNR’s strengths on full display — from the Scholars Celebration recognizing academic excellence, to the One Health Conference highlighting our leadership in interdisciplinary research, teaching, and extension, to the experiential learning taking place at the Allied Health Sciences Simulation event. These moments speak to the deep commitment our faculty and staff bring to fulfilling our land-grant mission each and every day.

Looking ahead, I encourage all faculty and staff to attend our Fall Faculty and Staff Meeting on Monday, December 15. We’re honored to be joined by President Radenka Maric for the first portion of the meeting, and I hope you’ll take the opportunity to submit questions in advance using the link below. This is a valuable time to come together, reflect, and look ahead as a community.

Thank you for all you do for our College.

Kumar Venkitanarayanan
Interim Dean and Director

Have an idea for the newsletter? We are grateful for the creativity and diverse opinions of our College community.

Contact cahnrdean@uconn.edu for consideration

Featured Story of the Month

Health

One Collapse. Countless Saves.

Can we stop deadly heat in its tracks with ice and science?

With half a lap left in the 10k race, Douglas Casa collapsed. The 16-year-old had dreamed of competing in New York’s Empire State Games since he was 12. He made the cut that June, finishing in the top two of his qualifying event, and then trained for weeks with fellow elite runners on Long Island. And on the day of the race, August 8, 1985, during a heat wave with the midday sun beating down on the track in Buffalo, Casa went down.

Read the full article at UConn Today

Hallmark Husky

December Awardee

Jill Skowrenski – Department of Allied Health Sciences

Jill Skowrenski has been awarded this month’s Hallmark Husky for her exceptional leadership in expanding experiential learning and student engagement within Allied Health Sciences. Jill played a central role in planning and executing the AHS Healthcare Simulation Event, which brought over 100 students and nearly 50 facilitators for hands-on learning across healthcare settings. She also developed more than 40 high-impact internships, forging partnerships with hospitals, community agencies, and organizations. Beyond these initiatives, Jill strengthened departmental infrastructure by advancing the AHS database system, enhancing communications, and supporting student success through mental health trainings and clinical rotation coordination. Thank you, Jill, for your dedication, innovation, and outstanding service to AHS and CAHNR.

Save the Date

Fall 2025

December 5, 2025: CAHNR Gingerbread Competition
December 5, 2025: Holiday Potluck Lunch – Sign up sheet
December 15, 2025: Fall CAHNR Faculty and Staff Meeting

Spring 2026

March 25, 2026: Awards and Honors Ceremony
May 8, 2026: Spring Faculty and Staff Meeting
May 9, 2026: Commencement

calendar_month

Fall Faculty and Staff meeting

December 15, 2025 — 10:00 – 12:00 — YNG 100

President Maric will be joining our CAHNR Faculty and Staff Meeting to share a State of the University address and take a few questions. We are collecting questions in advance—please use the survey link below to submit any question you would like her to address.

A detailed meeting agenda will be shared as we get closer to the date.

To join online: Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 289 059 939 052 85
Passcode: zH3qZ2n3

Questions for President Maric – Fill out form

Gratitude Ninjas

We’re excited to announce a new initiative to celebrate and recognize the many ways our colleagues make CAHNR such a great place to work –introducing the CAHNR Gratitude Ninjas! Several Gratitude Ninjas were released across CAHNR departments and campuses. These paper Ninjas are on a mission to spread appreciation, connection, and smiles throughout our college community.

From left to right:

We nominated the Witharana Lab including grads Evan Zocco, Caitlin Rogers, and Susmita Lamichhane supervised by Dr. Chandi Witharana for their quick and enthusiastic response to a request to assemble a drone demonstration for visiting high school students.
Jaran Smith, Educational Program Assistant II in the Department of Animal Science, received a Gratitude Ninja from Pedram Rezamand, Department Head.
Jill Skowrenski from the Department of Allied Health Sciences received a Gratitude Ninja from Department Head, Justin Nash.
Haley Fabrycki from the Department of Allied Health Sciences received a Gratitude Ninja from Ann-Marie Grimason.
Tara Craig of the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science received a Gratitude Ninja from Dr. Paulo Verardi.
Christine Ware of the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science received a Gratitude Ninja from Tara Craig.
Angela LaRue from the Department of Allied Health Sciences received a Gratitude Ninja from Jill Skowrenski.

Updates from the Business Office

I heard that “icy” is the easiest word to spell. Looking at it now, I see why.

There’s more fun in this month’s edition of the CAHNR Business Office newsletter. Each month, the team in CAHNR’s Business Office will update the CAHNR community on deadlines, policies, procedures, staffing changes, and all kinds of other useful information. Visit the CAHNR Business Office site for more.

CAHNR Impacts 2024

CAHNR makes an impact each and every year. We have an annual magazine to highlight some of the phenomenal work being done within our College’s research enterprise, academic programs, and Extension activities.

Take a look at CAHNR Impacts 2024