Fresh Start

This week I sent my college’s new faculty members a list of my recommendations for local dry cleaners, electricians, babysitters, and so forth. I also asked our each of our departments to prepare wallet-sized cards with the names and phone numbers on it of everyone in that department.

When I came to this university, I received such lists from a couple of folks and found them quite helpful, especially when I had a plumbing emergency during the first week of classes. Some weeks later, I had a car wreck and was ever so glad for that wallet list of numbers; one of my new colleagues came and rescued me from the side of the road as a wrecker towed away my crushed vehicle. It never fails that the start of school will coincide with some kind of aggravating complication in one’s personal life.

What information like that would have helped you as a newcomer to the campus and the surrounding region?