May 4, Operational Update

May 4, 2020 Update (View on YouTube)

Transcript: 

President Feinstein (00:00):
Good morning everybody. Monday, May 4th. This is our daily operation status report. It's the first day of finals week, so I know that a lot of students are taking exams today and getting ready for the rest of the week. I had a chance to be on KOA Radio this morning to talk about UNC and talk about what the future holds for us. And with that, I'll hand over the conversation to Dan Maxey, our Chief of Staff, to provide updates to the coronavirus task force. Dan.

Dan Maxey (00:30):
Great. Thank you President Feinstein. It's a beautiful Monday morning after a very wet Sunday evening here in Greeley. It poured last night, and I heard there was a little bit of hail around town as well. I'll echo your comments about finals week. We certainly wish all of our students the best this week as they wrap up their spring semester, and hope that you all finish strong. The cabinet and the coronavirus task force both meet today. As our daily panel gives reports, please remember to unmute your microphones and turn on your cameras. First up, as always, chair of the coronavirus task force, associate vice president for administration, Blaine Nickeson. Blaine.

Blaine Nickeson (01:05):
Good morning Dan. Good morning Andy and everyone else. I don't have a lot of updates today, but this week marks another phase in the state's safer at home order. Retail is now open with proper social distancing measures. Some workplaces are returning to a 50% staffing capacity maximum. But, businesses are encouraged to continue with telecommuting. On Friday, personal services, like hair salons, were allowed to reopen as well, but they looked very different. No waiting rooms, appointment only, wearing a mask, those kind of things.

Blaine Nickeson (01:38):
For statewide data, there's 16,635 confirmed positive cases. That's up around 1400 since my last report on Friday, and that case growth has kept along at the same pace as last week, about 400-500 positive cases per day. The current number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 is 722. That's down 25 since my report on Friday. A little over 81,000 folks tested. That's up about 9000 since Friday, and that's consistent with what the state's reporting their current daily capacity to be, of about 3000 a day, and they're trying to ramp that up to 5000 daily in the next few weeks.

Blaine Nickeson (02:17):
Colorado's currently reporting 842 deaths. That's up from 777 from Friday. And Weld County is reporting 1914 positive cases. That's up 112 since Friday. Deaths have unfortunately crossed 100. We're at 101, which is a gain of four, since Friday. So again, I'll be brief this morning, and turn it back over to you Dan.

Dan Maxey (02:42):
Thank you Blaine. Next, we'll turn it over to Dean of Students, Tuck Tucker, for our report on impacts to our student's lives. Tuck.

Gardiner Tucker (02:48):
Good morning Bear Country, and may the fourth be with you. And then the first student impact is that the COVID-19 virus has lots of impacts across the country, and it impacts our student communities of color and other communities of color across the country. So the strategy we're using at UNC is to help the UNC community become more aware of these impacts. For example, this Thursday we're having a special presentation on Zoom titled the COVID-19 Threat to Communities of Color, and I will show you that advertisement here. So, this is the Twitter announcement of it, and as you can see, it'll be moderated by Dr. Tobias Guzmán, our associate vice president of Student Affairs, and we have special guest presenters, Dr. Travis Boyce, Yvette Lucero-Nguyen, Rudy Vargas and Danya Caroll, and they're all going to be here on Thursday. If you'd like to participate, send an email to Jennifer.Stokes@unco.edu and she'll provide access to the procedure and what we're doing.

Gardiner Tucker (04:03):
Now, there are four purposes for this. The first purpose is to educate the public to the significant impact of the pandemic on communities of color, to provide tools on how to talk with others about these impacts, hear from experts on campus on the issue and the personal stories that they have, and understand the historical context of why communities of color are not surprised by the impact on black, brown and indigenous communities. So, please join us on Thursday evening.

Gardiner Tucker (04:41):
I'd like to wrap up by saying that this is Asian Pacific American Heritage month, and so there are a couple of quotes from well-known Asian Pacific Americans. The first is by Maxine Hong Kingston, who is a Chinese American author and professor Emerita at U Cal Berkeley. She says, "In a time of destruction, create something." So, in a time of destruction, create something. And these times are excellent examples of how to do that.

Gardiner Tucker (05:11):
And the second one is by Bryan Worra. He's a Laotian American author, past winner of the science fiction poetry award, and he says, "A single seed can turn into a forest. A single heart can transform a nation." So, those are two famous Asian Pacific American authors, and this is Asian Pacific American Heritage month, so congratulations to them.

Gardiner Tucker (05:39):
And then finally, students final exams create the best you can, and remember that you have the power to succeed, and we're here to help. And that concludes my report.

Mark Anderson (05:55):
Muted Dan.

Dan Maxey (05:59):
You'd think I'd know to undo that.

Gardiner Tucker (06:02):
I was waiting on your camera.

President Feinstein (06:03):
I was waiting to say something, but I was muted too.

Dan Maxey (06:06):
It's been what? Seven weeks of this? And I'm the one who reminds you all to unmute your microphones. Next, we'll turn things over to Mark, who has very kindly reminded me how to work this thing, for his report on our impacts to the academic mission. Mark.

Mark Anderson (06:26):
Good morning Dan. I was just in the process of turning my camera on and unmuting as well, waiting for you to give me the go-ahead. Anyway, as has already been mentioned, this is finals week, and so we want to wish all of our students best wishes and good luck during finals. I actually happened, over the weekend, to see a couple of students and had an opportunity to chat with them, and they really were very complimentary about the spring semester and how it went. One student in particular that I've gotten to know over the span of last year is a science major and was taking some lab classes this term, and I asked specifically about the lab classes and how they went, and she again was very complimentary. It was a different experience, but a good one. I asked both of the students I chatted with if they had registered for the fall. They had, and they also were registered and ready to take classes for the spring, or for the summer. Sorry. So, I was pleased by that.

Mark Anderson (07:40):
Although it's a little bit early, I wanted to remind everybody that next Sunday is Mother's Day, and this period of time I'm giving my mom the whole week because one, we've not been able to see her other than by Zoom calls, and typically graduation would happen right around Mother's Day, and that's a very important time to recognize our graduates, but also to recognize their families. And I think that as we close out the spring semester and as we move into what would normally be graduation, I think we also have to acknowledge our students, but also the families that have been supporting them throughout this period of time.

Mark Anderson (08:22):
Many of our students moved back home to be with their parents, and so I think as we approach Mother's Day, I think it's critically important that we acknowledge our moms and our parents and all of our families who've really been supporting us throughout this period of time.

Mark Anderson (08:41):
So Dan, unmute yourself, and I will turn it back to you.

Dan Maxey (08:45):
I am unmuted. Thank you Mark for that report, and thank you for the reminder that Mother's Day is fast approaching. We have no reports from Facilities or Human Resources today, so I will turn things back over to President Feinstein.

President Feinstein (09:00):
Wow, that was a record. I think this was the shortest update we've had so far in seven weeks. But, with that, stay safe, be healthy, and we'll see you here again tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Take care everybody.