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Dear Colleagues:
The university recently made some startling announcements for all of us who are loyal Buckeye fans. There will be no out-of-conference football games this season. The Shoe will have 80,000 fewer fans at each game than last year. And the Michigan vs. Ohio State game will not be the last game of the regular season. It is clear that this fall semester will be like none we have ever seen before. These unprecedented changes in the university's major sporting events will be a weekly reminder this fall that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact just about everything we do.
As our college begins announcing what is in store for our students, staff, and faculty in the fall term, the news is nothing like the shock of what we have heard about the upcoming football season. Everyone in our college community has been dealing with the impact of COVID-19 since the university closed in mid-March, so we have had five months to get used to the changes we implemented to get the college back on track and to help control the spread of the coronavirus.
Our plan for the fall term is to take advantage of all that our students, staff, and faculty have learned so far. This includes offering most of our courses virtually so everyone maintains the proper physical distancing. Our pre-clinic labs will run just as they have done throughout the summer, with classes divided into halves and students seated at every other workstation -- again, to maintain the required physical distancing. Everyone will wear appropriate personal protective equipment that includes gloves, masks, and face shields. And there will be plexiglass barriers to separate faculty from students during "close-up" demonstrations.
The biggest change for our fall semester will be the way we use our student clinics. For most of the summer we had limited use of these facilities, but we have benefited from the expertise and guidance of specialists from the Medical Center, the Office of Facilities Operations and Development, and the College of Engineering. Thanks to their efforts, all of our student operatories will be retrofitted for the fall with physical barriers and HEPA units to provide a safe environment for treating patients. This will allow our dental and dental hygiene students to continue meeting their clinical education requirements and finishing their competencies.
We still have to find ways to make up for the time we lost during the onset of the pandemic, but we are working together to ensure that our students get all the experiences they need to advance in their programs. It has been quite a journey, but we have learned how to succeed even in the midst of tremendous challenges, and we anticipate a great fall term. As Buckeyes, we will continue to overcome all the challenges that come our way, whether it is in the Shoe or in Postle Hall. And we will beat Michigan -- no matter where or when we play them!
Sincerely,
 Patrick M. Lloyd, DDS, MS
Dean and Professor
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Purnima Kumar, BDS, MS, PhD, Receives Gies Award
ADEA's Gies awards are given annually to institutions, organizations, and individuals whose efforts "meaningfully advance oral health and dental education" in ways that align with the ideals set forth more than 90 years ago by the dental education pioneer William J. Gies, PhD.
Dr. Kumar is a nationally recognized researcher whose investigations of the impact of smoking and e-cigarettes on oral health have been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the National Cancer Institute. She is also a member of the International College of Dentists, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology,
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Rachelle Nowlin, DMD, Joins College Faculty
On August 12, Dr. Rachelle Nowlin will join the college as an Assistant Professor-Clinical in the Division of Restorative and Prosthetic Dentistry. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and her DMD degree from the University of Florida's College of Dentistry. After obtaining her credentials at the Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nevada, she moved to Okinawa, Japan, where she served as a Hospital Dentist at the U.S. Naval Hospital, providing general dentistry services, and managing continuous improvement initiatives and staff training programs.
Following her return to the U.S., Dr. Nowlin joined the Naval Ambulatory Care Center in New Orleans, serving as the Medical and Dental Clinic Manager of the facility that provided outpatient, wellness, and dental services. Continuing in that role throughout the events related to Hurricane Katrina, she left the Navy in 2006 and became a private dental practitioner in New Orleans.
Dr. Nowlin later returned to Okinawa as an Air Force Dental Officer in the 18th Dental Squadron, where she managed patient administration, supplies, staff training, and infection prevention programs. She also served as a General Dentist for the 6th Dental Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, providing patient safety training and overseeing clinic support teams. Prior to joining Ohio State, she was a General Dentist at the Pentagon Tri-Service Dental Clinic in Washington, D.C.
As a faculty member, Dr. Nowlin will provide didactic, clinical, and laboratory instruction for pre-doctoral students, and academic guidance and clinical supervision for dental student groups.
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Safe and Healthy Buckeyes Required Training and Pledge: August 25
In anticipation of students, staff, and faculty returning to campus in the autumn, the university has created a required online training course that is aimed at educating every Buckeye about ways to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
All who complete the training must also sign a "Together as Buckeyes" pledge that represents the campus community's shared commitment to making the efforts required to stay healthy. Those include performing daily health checks, wearing face masks, frequently washing hands, maintaining physical distancing, and staying informed about ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
All students, staff, and faculty must complete the online training course and sign the pledge by August 25.
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Postle Hall
305 W. 12th Avenue
Columbus, Ohio 43210
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