December 10, Operational Update
December 10 Update (Watch on Youtube)
Transcipt:
President Feinstein (00:00):
Well, good morning, everybody. It's Thursday, December 10th, and this is our weekly
operational status update call. And I want to thank all of you for joining us. We
are nearly to the end of Finals Week, and I want to thank you for your diligence throughout
the semester. After a brief but well deserved winter break, we will all be returning
in the spring to welcome back our students. And in a few minutes, Provost Anderson
is going to share some additional information about the start of the spring semester,
and he will also be sending out emails to all faculty this morning with details about
our return in January. The end of the semester is a time to celebrate our recent graduates,
and I've asked Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations, Lyndsey Crum, to join
us this morning to share details about this weekend's virtual commencement activities.
Lyndsey.
Lyndsey Crum (01:02):
Thank you President Feinstein, and thank you to everyone who has made a very unexpected
semester conclude with what I'm hoping will be a really celebratory opportunity to
recognize the entire class of 2020; our spring, summer and fall graduates. It has
truly been a campus wide effort from the colleges, student affairs, academic affairs,
finance and administration, Vicki, Nick and Dan Satriana and everyone involved in
the campus planning for commencement, and our director, Christina Edwards. I want
to walk through the celebration, what you can expect to experience on Saturday, but
also the other celebrations that are happening and have already begun to happen throughout
this week.
Lyndsey Crum (01:45):
First of all, the virtual celebration that you can expect on Saturday, September 12th,
is going to be organized around our colleges. We worked with the communication staff
in each college and the deans to organize a virtual celebration that will continue
the [inaudible 00:02:01] academic community and your academic area of study. So every
ceremony is organized and will include messages from President Feinstein, our keynote
speaker and alumni, Katherine Archuleta, as well as our student speakers. It will
be followed by remarks from each Dean and graduation slides that recognize the individual
graduates, their academic area of study and their term of graduation. Graduates were
also invited to customize those slides by uploading a graduation photo if they choose
to, and they'll be able to access and share those graduation slides on social media.
Graduation ceremony has unique link and you can access those links at the commencement
website, unco.edu/commencement.
Lyndsey Crum (02:44):
After each college ceremony, graduates, guests, faculty and staff are invited to join
a virtual reception hosted by each college Dean on Zoom. Thank you to the faculty,
staff and graduates who've already RSVP to attend those. Each reception is going to
include breakout rooms that are organized to allow our graduates and guests to meet
and talk with their individual program faculty. It's a great opportunity for our graduates
to introduce their faculty to their families, their [inaudible 00:03:10]. Special
thank you to IMT and our college communication staff for making these celebrations
possible and organizing all the details.
Lyndsey Crum (03:21):
Other ceremonies that are happening are celebrations, one that I'm particularly excited
about is Friday evening. The graduate school is organizing a virtual hooding celebration
on Zoom. [inaudible 00:03:32] to earn and receive the much deserved distinction of
being hooded virtually and recognized by their faculty advisor, mentors and dissertation
committees in front of their family, friends and support systems. The graduate school
has organized those based on the fall term and then the spring and summer term. Details
and links from the graduate school are also available on the commencement website.
Lyndsey Crum (03:56):
Other celebrations include a celebration that happened Tuesday evening hosted by Dr.
Guzmán featuring Ken Salazar and hosted in partnership with the Cultural Center Directors.
I know President Feinstein attended that as did Dr. Rodriguez, and I want to thank
our cultural centers for providing such a special opportunity for our students. Saturday
and Sunday, the Center for National Education is hosting two virtual celebrations
that we hope will expand to the global network of families, friends, and graduates
to give them a chance to recognize and celebrate their graduation. All of these details
are available once again at unco.edu/commencement.
Lyndsey Crum (04:37):
And finally, to conclude with a special thank you to every member of the faculty and
staff who submitted a congratulatory video to the class of 2020. The communications
team compiled all of your individual video messages into a really heartfelt combined
video that I think reflects the genuine commitment of all of us to the support of
our students and our commitment to getting them to this point, to graduation. That
video is also available on the commencement website. So congratulations graduates
and thank you to the entire campus community for making this celebration possible.
President Feinstein (05:10):
Thank you very much, Lyndsey, and I certainly want to thank everyone who's worked
so hard on commencement, just a great job. So now I'll turn things over to Associate
Vice President for Administration, Blaine Nickeson, for an update. Blaine.
Blaine Nickeson (05:25):
Thank you President Feinstein. Good morning everyone. I want to echo the same congratulations
to everyone that has made it through this fall semester like no other, especially
our graduates and new Bear alumni. While the level of activity on campus has slowed
significantly, the virus continues to be very active in the community. We've not seen
a spike in cases or hospitalizations due to Thanksgiving. However, we also haven't
seen a significant decrease in cases due to the new level red restrictions that have
been in place for about the last three weeks. What we're really experiencing is a
very high plateau of new cases, and that leads me to believe that the negative impacts
of the Thanksgiving holiday have sort of counteracted the positive impacts of the
level red restrictions. Essentially just keeping us at a steady state.
Blaine Nickeson (06:26):
Given the significant reduction on restrictions under level red, we really should
be seeing a major impact at this point. And unfortunately we're not. I fear we're
going to be experiencing this phenomenon through the holiday season. I'm also saddened
to report that in the state, we've seen a big increase in the daily number of deaths
due to COVID-19. At the spring peak, we had a single day where we hit a high of 40
deaths. In this much larger wave, we've now had nine days so far where we've hit that
number or exceeded it, one day as high as 56. I know at least one Colorado family
that's experienced a death due to COVID and my heart aches for all of those families
that are dealing with that loss. Please take this virus seriously.
Blaine Nickeson (07:11):
As of this morning, we're monitoring 115 UNC folks in our isolation in our quarantine
protocol. We have 42 active positive cases associated with the campus, and five of
those are employees, the rest are students. As of last night, we were using 17 of
our isolation and quarantine rooms on campus for residential students. Unfortunately
as we wrap up Finals Week here, we're still going to have a number of folks... I've
got a musical interlude, I guess.
Blaine Nickeson (07:42):
Certainly the big item in the news lately has been vaccines. Yesterday I attended
a briefing where the governor and his team announced their vaccination priority tiers.
The first tier, as you expect, this is the group we'll be able to vaccinate this winter,
includes healthcare workers, first responders and folks living in long-term care facilities
like nursing homes. In the spring, the plan is to vaccinate in phase II those over
65, people with chronic health conditions, frontline workers like grocery store employees
and school staff at daycares, preschools, K-12 schools. Phase III is for pretty much
everybody else. The state says that that might not start until this summer, depending
on the supply of vaccine, although in a briefing last week which Dr. Fauci was a part
of with the governor, Dr. Fauci stated that he hoped anyone who wanted a vaccine might
be able to get one by late April.
Blaine Nickeson (08:40):
But to put that in perspective, even under the best case scenario there, keep in mind
that immunity takes time. So, if you were to get the Moderna vaccine on April 20th,
you'd get the second dose on May 18th and it wouldn't take full effect until June
1st. So, even if we have a really aggressive rollout of vaccine per Dr. Fauci's hope,
it's still going to take some time for everybody to realize that impact. The coronavirus
task force and our various committees, we've been working on planning for a wide variety
of vaccination scenarios. Planning for the various contingencies. We don't know if
UNC might be called on to vaccinate 100 people or 1,000 or 10,000, but we're planning
and we're ready to assist in the public health effort.
Blaine Nickeson (09:31):
As a close, I'd want to remind folks that the free saliva-based COVID testing site
at Nottingham field remains open six days a week from 9:00 to 6:00 for anyone in the
UNC or the greater Weld County community that wants to get tested. It doesn't require
insurance, a doctor's note, ID, any of that. While activity on the campus is slow,
we really want to make sure that the greater community utilizes that resource. So
please share with your friends and family. We want to make sure that the state keeps
that vital testing resource on our campus. With that, I'll turn it back over to you,
Andy.
President Feinstein (10:08):
Thanks Blaine. There's also another testing center located near the Family Funplex
that I've biked by a couple of times. It's actually a drive-thru, not very crowded.
My family went and stopped by and utilized that this week and there were, I think,
three people in line. It's also been taken over by, if I believe, Curative as well,
if I'm not mistaken.
Blaine Nickeson (10:34):
That's right. That is the second site that Curative has stood up. Looking at the testing
numbers, they've been doing about the same number of tests a day as we have been.
So it's a good balancing. We have heard some feedback and somebody put in the chat
here as well that on Monday, for part of the day our testing site was closed, that
was unexpected but they were trying to get that first day up and running at the Greeley,
the youth sports complex out there. And so they pulled some of the resources to go
do that that day. But since then, we've been back to normal on campus and really want
to encourage folks to access either of those. The testing's simple. Again, it's an
oral swab that they sort of walk you through how to do. Andy, I know you've had it
done a number of times now. It's really not a big deal. So please take advantage of
those resources.
President Feinstein (11:25):
Absolutely. Well, thanks Blaine. And now let's hear from our Provost, Mark Anderson,
and AVP for Student Affairs, Tobias Guzmán. Mark.
Mark Anderson (11:36):
Thank you President Feinstein. I would also like to add my congratulations to our
graduates, job well done. But also to congratulate our faculty and staff who've really
contributed and helped those students along their academic journey. Commencement is
a time to celebrate our graduates, but it's also a time to reflect on the good work
that we're doing to help our students achieve their goals. As President Feinstein
indicated, we've had a lot of conversations over the last couple of weeks among academic
affairs, we've convened an ad hoc task force, the standing coronavirus task force,
as well as president's cabinet has really looked hard at the feedback from students,
the feedback from the community, as well as the public health feed in deciding how
we're going to address the spring semester.
Mark Anderson (12:26):
From all of these conversations, we've made the following determinations. We are not
going to change the published calendar for the spring. So, campus will reopen after
winter break and classes will begin on January the 11th. They will conclude with Finals
Week on the week through the 7th. We're not going to change the modality of the courses.
So courses which are scheduled to be taught face-to-face or hybrid or virtually will
continue to be taught in that way. What we are asking is for our faculty to, beginning
of the spring semester, very much likely approach the end of the fall semester, we
want the faculty to use their best judgment as to how to meet the learning objectives
of the course, but doing so in a way that's safe and that takes into consideration
the health and safety of our community.
Mark Anderson (13:29):
We've done everything we can on the campus to maintain a healthy and safe learning
environment for our students: wearing of masks, washing hands regularly, and social
distancing within all of our classrooms. But we understand that there are some concerns.
And so we're asking people to use their best judgment. Most of our courses can be
met in a virtual environment at the beginning of the semester if that is, in your
judgment, the best way to meet the learning objectives and to do so in a safe and
healthy manner for your students. Very much like the end of the fall semester we want
our faculty to communicate with their students, prior to the beginning of the spring
semester, exactly how they will be meeting for the first several weeks of the semester.
Mark Anderson (14:17):
Even face-to-face courses based upon CDHE guidance can meet up to 25% of the time
in a virtual environment. For a 16 week semester, that amounts to about two to two
and a half, three weeks. So even face-to-face courses could meet in a virtual environment
if it meets the health and safety standards but also it serves the learning objectives
of the course. This is not an easy decision to make, but it's the best decision based
upon all the information that [inaudible 00:14:54] was taking into a lot of considerations,
but particularly the student's needs and desires, financial aid considerations, and
compliance considerations.
Mark Anderson (15:06):
A detailed communication will be sent out as President Feinstein indicated a little
bit later this morning to all faculty staff and students that provides a lot of detail
about the beginning of the spring semester. But just to reiterate, we're starting
the spring semester on time, January 11th. And we are asking the faculty to use their
best judgment in delivering the courses in a healthy and safe environment, but to
primarily meet the learning objectives of the courses.
Mark Anderson (15:40):
I would like to remind people that we had an open campus forum on the strategic plan
on Tuesday, and we're collecting feedback from that. We encourage everybody to provide
feedback as we transition from the planning stage to the implementation stage of the
strategic plan. So hopefully everybody had a chance to attend or watch the recording
of that campus forum and can go to the Qualtrics survey to provide some feedback.
Mark Anderson (16:13):
Finally, as the semester begins to close out and we approach commencement on Saturday,
we want to continue to recognize our faculty who've done an excellent job at serving
our students over the course of the fall semester. One of the things that we heard
from students was that they were experiencing, during the fall semester, difficulty
in making connections to each other, difficult making connections with faculty, difficulty
making connections to the course material. And as we communicated that out [inaudible
00:16:45] identified as having exemplary practice. And so we asked colleges to nominate
faculty and the Faculty Advisory Committee from CETL looked at all those nominations
and identified really exemplary practice.
Mark Anderson (17:05):
Last week I mentioned some of these, and I'm going to complete the list today. From
the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Marian Hamilton is being recognized.
From the College of Performing and Visual Arts, Dr. Janice Dickensheets. From the
College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Sandra Harmon. From the College of
Performing and Visual Arts, Dr. Brian Claxton. And from the College of Humanities
and Social Sciences, Dr. I-Huei Lee. Each of these faculty members engaged in different
practices in a virtual environment that really helped the students to bridge the gap,
the virtual gap if you will, and make connections to the material and to each other.
And as a consequence, the students made those connections and performed well in their
course. And we want to acknowledge all of our faculty for all the work that was done
over the course of the fall semester, an unusual fall semester, in helping our students
to really adjust and succeed in the environment that they're faced with. And with
that, I will turn the podium over to Tobias.
Tobias Guzmán (18:21):
Thanks Mark, I appreciate that, and welcome everyone. Hello, happy Hanukkah as well.
I'd like to, also from the Division of Student Affairs, congratulate all of our students
that are graduating. As AVP Lyndsey Crum mentioned, we were able to have a virtual
celebration for graduates at the Cultural Services graduation celebration this week.
Specifically we had 851 Black, Asian, API, Native and Latinx identifying students
earn their UNC degree and ultimately will become alums of UNC. So congratulations
to them all.
Tobias Guzmán (19:04):
One bit of information that I think is helpful to know in terms of in preparation
for next semester, Career Readiness and the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences
faculty are partnering to have the first statewide K-12 Educator Employment Days event.
What this entails is other universities in the state of Colorado will combine their
teacher fairs with UNC's K-12 Educator Employment Days for the entire state of Colorado.
This is the first of its kind and the host will be UNC. The dates of this virtual
event will probably be sometime in April, but because of the events combining forces
to have this kind of event, the data is still yet to be determined.
Tobias Guzmán (19:57):
Transitioning into winter break, a reminder as we wind down this fall semester. Students
who would like to stay on campus during winter break can do so, and they would need
to sign up for winter break housing on the housing website. For some students, they'd
rather stay on campus and continue their jobs within the city, around our city. They
may find their residence hall room more comforting than going home. We expect to have
about 100 to 150 students living with us during that time. So, keep your thoughts
with those students who are here on our campus during this winter break.
Tobias Guzmán (20:41):
Right around the corner is spring, and Housing and Dining will welcome back students.
The halls will open on January 8th for new students and returning students will be
able to join us beginning at 8:00 AM on Friday, January 9th. Meal plans will begin
as well. Finally, from the Division of Student Affairs, we want to thank you for all
of your work with students. We really appreciate the time that you spend with them.
We look forward to the spring semester, but first we hope to enjoy a little bit of
a different pace in the coming weeks so that we are ready for spring semester. Thank
you so much for your time, and I'm going to turn it over to President Feinstein.
President Feinstein (21:27):
Thank you Tobias for your presentation and Mark. We're going to see you all here again
next week on Thursday morning, and as always, stay safe and be healthy everybody.
Take care.