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The Voice of Seguin Today
Volume 55, Number 040 830-379-2234
Seguin ISD approves school calendar TLU names new Vice President for 2020-2021 school year of Academic Affairs By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera
(Seguin) -- It's never too early for Seguin ISD families to begin planning its vacations and other event around the 2020-2021 school calendar. That's because the official school calendar has been approved for the Seguin ISD.
Hoffmann says the other change in next year's school calendar comes with the Monday after the Easter holiday. He says the newly adopted calendar just did not allow for a school holiday. "We've had Easter Monday off in the past. At least our students have. Usually our staff are in working that day. Of course, we have that Good Friday holiday off
Sean Hoffmann, chief communications officer, says among the noted changes, however, is the week of Spring Break. Hoffmann says Spring Break will run a little later than usual. "For many years, we've had the second week of March set for Spring Break and as our teachers and campus staff looked at this calendar -- essentially, they came down to a vote and we had two calendar options for our teachers to consider and one option had Spring Break for the week of March 8-12, 2021 and then, we had another calendar option which outlined March 15-19, 2021 for Spring Break. It was a pretty close vote but March 15th prevailed so essentially, we are looking at a week later for Spring Break in March of 2021," said Hoffmann.
leading up to Easter and again, we've had years where that Monday was a student holiday but looking at it this year, our students felt very strongly that our students would be best served to be back at school on that Easter Monday because we have state standardized testing that week. It starts on Tuesday, April 6 so in trying to create a calendar that is best for students as opposed to what is best for adults, our cam-
pus staff again was adamant on having our students back on that Monday. So, they are back in school. They are fresh and they are ready to take the test on Tuesday and the rest of the week," said Hoffmann.
The calendar was developed with input by the Superintendent's Teacher Communication Council. The first day of school for the upcoming school year is Thursday, Aug. 20. First semester district holidays include Labor Day (Sept. 7), Fair Day (Oct. 9), Thanksgiving (Nov. 23-27) and Christmas Break (Dec. 21-Jan. 1). Second semester district holidays include Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan. 18), Spring Break (March 15-19), Good Friday (April 2) and Memorial Day (May 31). An inclement weather make-up day are also scheduled for Friday, May 28 and Saturday, May 29. Early release days are set for Dec. 18 and May 26. All staff development days and workdays are also outlined in the calendar. That calendar is available on the district's website at SeguinISD.net.
(Seguin) -- Texas Lutheran University (TLU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Sarah Ferguson to the position of Vice President of Academic Affairs. TLU officials say as the university's Chief Academic Officer, this position provides vision, leadership, and strategy to ensure the strength of academic affairs across campus.
Dr. Ferguson previously served as vice provost for Faculties and Academic Affairs at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota where she was also an associate vice president and academic dean for the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs.
Dr. Sarah Ferguson
She was also an associate professor of social work at St. Catherine University and also served in various academic administrative roles there and at the University of St. Thomas. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and two master's degrees, one in social work and one in public affairs from the University of Minnesota.
She'll also serve on the President's Cabinet and as a member of the university's senior leadership team through both internal and external efforts. TLU officials say Dr. Ferguson's professional insight and experiences developing both traditional and non-traditional programs will be a valuable asset to TLU's senior leadership team as it evaluates opportunities for new academic programs that drive enrollment growth.
At TLU, Dr. Ferguson's specific responsibilities will include: managing all curricular offerings as well as hiring, development, and evaluation of all faculty members; managing and maintaining all budgets associated with academic affairs; representing academic affairs in all planning and implementation of strategic plans related to academic facilities; overseeing all academic departments and programs, working closely with academic chairs and directors in that process; managing additional departments and programs including the Registrar's Office, library, academic assessment, academic grants, and International Education; making sure shared governance is honored and utilized, overseeing the structure of academic affairs, and interacting with all faculty committees.
“It is a tremendous honor to welcome Dr. Ferguson into our community,” said TLU President Dr. Debbie Cottrell. “Dr. Ferguson's multi-faceted experience as an academic administrator, along with her deep understanding of the significant place of small, private institutions within the higher education landscape, positions her well to lead our academic programs and to work effectively with our talented and committed faculty. Her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and her connections to Lutheran higher education further position her to be a strong VPAA for TLU.” Dr. Ferguson will officially begin her new role on July 8, 2020.