What an extraordinary time. As I write now, one month ago life was business as usual. Today, everyone is working from home, meeting virtually, preparing classes to continue via internet capabilities of various kinds, advising students by phone.
The dedication, creativity, and willingness to adjust that I’ve seen from faculty and staff has been extraordinary. Those with expertise and experience in online and social media enhanced teaching have been creating training videos for other faculty; everyone gave up their spring break and has worked non-stop to get their courses revised and ready for remote teaching. The Lantern advisor and editors continue to get The Lantern out (and please check The Lantern online edition for the latest on coronavirus and the university).
At the same time, all of our necessary business of administration, academic reviews, graduate exams continues on schedule, through remote meetings. The School’s Advancement Board will be meeting virtually in April as well. We are all getting well-versed in Zoom and other support software.
University leadership truly has led… in a situation where moving quickly and decisively is key, they have done so.
So, my heartfelt appreciation to all. I’m proud to be part of such a team. We have challenging days ahead. It is uncertain what tomorrow will bring. We are improvising solutions in the classroom and throughout the School and University, and we’ll have to learn and adjust as we go.
We’ll get through this together and come out stronger on the other side.
Best wishes,
Michael Slater
