Our students returned to class on Wednesday this week. Even after having two weeks off for the Christmas holidays, our students were hoping to get a “snow” day off after a cold front and some winter weather made its way across North Louisiana over the latter part of the week. But we were able to get the short week in, and get our students ramped back up to make a run through this disjointed winter quarter.  Winter Quarter always has a tough calendar to schedule around including Christmas, MLK Day, Mardi Gras and sometimes snow. It’s a part of the Tech experience that we all come to appreciate.     Wednesday, I met with AD Tommy McClelland and congratulated him on a great Armed Forces Bowl game victory over Navy. That game brought a lot of positive national recognition to Tech. Tommy and I also met with our partner Learfield Sports and other members of my administrative team to discuss our partnership program. The rest of Wednesday was filled with administrative meetings and visits from several students, graduates and prospective students.     I enjoyed having a Thursday breakfast with Mortgage Contracting Services employees and officers. MCS is led by loyal Tech alumnae Caroline Reaves who brought this branch of the company to Ruston about five years ago. We are thrilled that they made the decision to come, and are now providing excellent jobs for our community. Later Thursday, we welcomed an “Internet of Things” type of company to campus from Houston to explore potential research and workforce collaborations. On Friday, VP Stan Napper and I made a trip to Bossier City to meet with our partners at the Cyber Innovation Center to discuss our activities related to the Louisiana Tech Research Institute and Barksdale Air Force Base.