Dear Colleagues,

A new academic year always brings a range of emotions: excitement for a new season, anticipation of meeting new students and greeting colleagues after summer, those first-day-of-term “butterflies.” In those ways, this year may be just like any other. But I also recognize added new emotions: concern over regularly updated health and safety protocols, nerves from shifting work habits once more, uncertainty about how this next term will play out.

My wish for us all is that we find balance this fall. For some, that means shifting gears to prepare an updated syllabus and course materials, or working hard to put on a unique hybrid welcome week. For others, that means changing morning routines to catch a new train or return to a familiar commute. And for a select group, that means business as usual, a day-to-day of being in the office that never really changed.

To all of you, I am grateful. But I also have another big ask: to stay in this together. We’re piloting new flexible ways of work, we’re on stand-by in case the world around us changes again. And the way we’ll be able to ensure we’re all successful is to focus on staying in touch and working smarter. So I’d like to call your attention to a few things to help us make the most of this fall:

  • Fall Courses, Flex Work and Faculty Senate Debrief
  • Working collaboratively in MS Teams & Zoom
  • Sharing information through regular communication
  • Celebrating a year in review at our annual State of the College on 10/21

Looking forward to seeing you in person soon,
Sharon L. Walker, PhD
Dean, College of Engineering
Fall Courses, Flex Work in Engineering, Debrief from Open Senate Meeting

Last week’s special meeting of the faculty senate covered a lot of ground. Here are the key takeaways I’d like to address for our college:

  • The Provost has developed an FAQ webpage that addresses everything from classroom health and safety, accommodations and absences, to tech support and general academic questions. Engineering activities related to academics and the classroom will follow these guidelines, so please bookmark that page.
  • I shared yesterday on Teams the latest guidance regarding fall quarter class prep as well as a syllabus statement. Please check that post for details.
  • Some questions were raised regarding flex work and days on campus. The Provost advised there is not a mandate, which is true. At the same time, please recall the recent University communication from August 24, “Guiding Our Return with Flexibility,” which referenced “the majority of colleges and schools are planning for professional staff to be in the office 3-4 days a week, having the option to work remotely for 1-2 days, with further variation depending on the needs of the college, team functions, the time of year (e.g. increased presence during "peak weeks") and other variables.” As I have mentioned, we are approaching our return with flexibility while aligning with the guiding principles set by the administration. I remain grateful to each of the departments and administrative units, who submitted thoughtful work plans for their teams to ensure we have appropriate coverage for our college specific needs. If you have outstanding questions about a flex work arrangement, please contact your supervisor or feel free to reach out to me to discuss further. 
Working Collaboratively in MS Teams & Zoom

When we shifted to fully remote work last March, we had to implement a variety of tools more broadly across the college to make sure we could continue our internal operations. As we return to campus with the prevalence of flexible work arrangements across the college, that means the tools we used initially to fill gaps are here to stay as a critical resource to help us get our work done.

  • All staff and faculty should be prepared to work in BB Learn, Zoom, and/or MS Teams, specifically the CoE Faculty and Staff Teams site.
  • In brief, we are using these apps in addition to email to help us engage in real-time while some employees will be on campus and others may be remote, as well as for ease of access to shared files and digital workspaces.
  • For a reminder of the complete details around how and why we’re using these tools in particular, take a look at the college’s MarCom guide, available in the CoE Faculty and Staff Teams site Marketing and Communications channel.

Communication & Information Sharing

In case the methodical build-up of communications throughout the college over the last couple years doesn’t seem particularly shiny and new, note we now have an impressive array of messages distributed regularly to our community. We all have full inboxes, so each of these is designed to consolidate information for quick and easy access. Here’s a top-level look at the “who,” “what” and “why:”

  • Dean’s messages to the community (as needed): important updates, announcements, academic and business information
  • Faculty/Staff, and Student Newsletters: (biweekly): faculty/staff version includes announcements, latest news and research, research funding and awards opportunities, while the student version includes feature stories, general announcements and upcoming events

I trust you’ll take note of these communications – again, they’re ultimately designed to save you time! 
Annual State of the College

Please save the date for our annual State of the College event, to be held October 21, 2021. The time and modality of this event will be announced later this month as we monitor the outcomes of events and activities the first few weeks of the term.
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