Dear faculty, staff and students,

I'm writing to highlight a few exciting developments at the School of Dentistry as the year begins:

• Mark Kirkland assumed his duties in the new position of Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs on February 1, 2008. As announced at the time of his appointment he is directly responsible to the Dean for the oversight of all clinical activities within the School, and as a part of his role he will have direct responsibility for all predoctoral clinics. Dr. Kirkland is moving ahead vigorously on several fronts, and I am confident you will all give him your strong support in making needed changes and improvements.
  
  
• We recently received a wonderful anonymous donation of one million dollars toward the modernization campaign for the fourth-floor preclinical laboratory in the Dental Clinics building at 707 Parnassus. This means we have nearly reached our goal in raising all the funds needed for this significant upgrade of our educational facilities, and I have therefore given the green light to the dental faculty planning the renovations to go ahead and make this happen. Design and other prep work will require several months, so we envision the work being completed in the Summer of 2009. A more detailed announcement about this major donation will come soon, and I would like to thank all those who have worked so hard and contributed so much to date toward making this very important renovation a reality.
  
  
• Evaluation of digital radiography equipment is in progress, with two possibilities already on site and available for interested faculty to examine, so please speak with Dr. Herbert or Dr. Kirkland if you would like to take a look. Installation is planned for the coming academic year.
  
  
• Our research activities are progressing well, with several large grant applications pending. We wish the investigators all the best for success during the review process.
  
  
• We are facing challenges with the looming possibility of severe cuts in the California state budget for the next academic year, including possible reductions in adult Denti-Cal coverage. We are looking at ways to manage potential budget shortfalls, but at the moment we do not even know what the extent of the cuts might be. I can assure you that we will do whatever we can to minimize the impact on our teaching programs.
  
  
• I will be hosting an informal "Chat with the Dean" session separately for faculty and students, once a quarter. You are welcome to join us and bring your questions, learn more about what's going on at our School, and put in your two cents' worth.
  

All the best,

John D.B. Featherstone, MSc, PhD
Professor and Interim Dean