My new job at LaGuardia has been exciting and a lot of work. There’s a lot of new information to take in and procedures to figure out, but I’m adapting to it all. LaGuardia hired 70 new instructional faculty this year, 12 of them in the math department (including computer science and engineering). The school is growing by leaps and bounds. It’s great to be part of this large group of incoming faculty; it feels like we’re undertaking a grand adventure together, and we are available to support each other through the challenges of the experience. Like the student body, the faculty exhibit great diversity in ethnicity and in life experience. Even by CUNY standards, LaGuardia is a very diverse place, and that’s really saying something.

I’ve had a few opportunities to hear President Mellow address the new hires, and she is a very charismatic leader. She really seems to have a strong vision for the direction of the school, and she makes us feel that our work is very important.

The facilities of the school are much better than I was expecting. From the outside it looks like a series of ugly brown bulidings . . . but it’s the inside that matters, as that’s where I spend more time. The bathrooms are reasonably clean, and the elevators operate reasonably quickly. I have a good-sized private office, painted in interesting colors, with almost-new furniture including plenty of bookshelves, a filing cabinet, another cabinet, and pegs to hang my coat, backpack, etc. No windows to the outside, though some small high windows let in light from the hallway. Offices with outside windows are assigned based on seniority.  I have a much larger desk than I had at FAU.  The hallways are decorated with an eclectic collection of artwork, much of it by LaGuardia students, and painted in bright colors. There is a beautiful courtyard with greenery and benches, and a hall of flags with a high ceiling from which hang flags from many nations of the world. Is it all the nations of the world or just the ones that LaGuardia students come from? I don’t think there would be a big difference actually.