Note from the dean
CNAS Faculty and Staff – Once again, thank you for all you do! I know that the past few weeks have not been easy and the next few months will continue to have challenges. We will be challenged to do things differently. We will be challenged with constant change as our colleagues in STEM determine better testing protocols, discover and manufacture a vaccine, and maybe even a useful medication. Policies continue to be developed for our opening in August to start the fall semester. You can find all of the latest information on the Missouri State University COVID-19 Information Website.
Here are some items that affect CNAS directly. We have an approved plan to allow for some research and teaching to resume on campus this summer. I have approved several faculty and research students to begin to work in research labs over the summer. In addition I have also approved a few faculty to access their offices more than just intermittently to develop their online courses – especially for summer. Please remember to stay home if you are not well. COVID-19 testing is available at Magers but please call first. University buildings will not be unlocked and available to all until August 3. I will continue to work from home through mid-June and then only begin to come in once per week after that through the end of June.
CNAS is currently working on a phased plan to bring faculty and staff back over the summer. We should have an approved plan by the end of next week. I do, however, expect that plans for all faculty and staff could involve some work from home as we do not all need to be on-campus all the time.
Your departments heads are also looking once again at fall schedules. They will be talking to you about how you want to handle classes assuming the city/county orders indicate only a 50% capacity. Options include reserving two classrooms and “zooming” from one classroom holding 50% to another classroom holding the other 50% of the students; finding a classroom that is double the size of your currently assigned room; offering a blended option where students only attend one lecture/week but it is a different group of students for each lecture. There are probably many other options that you can think of and you should work with your department head to figure out a workable option. Labs will challenge us as we neither have enough lab spaces nor enough lab instructors to decrease the size of each lab by 50%. One option that several departments are exploring is doing only 50% of the labs for the semester – half of the students do the lab in week 1 and the other half of the students do the lab in week 2. Once again, I understand that this is not ideal but it will also force all of us to consider what are the most important skills/concepts that students need to know.
I have been meeting with your department heads and the associate deans on a weekly basis and sharing all information that I receive from the president and provost. I will continue to do so through the summer. If you have questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.
Tammy
Recent News and Upcoming Events
There are several Blackboard training sessions available this week. Please check the calendar of events to see links as they do not require registrations through the “my Learning Portal”.
Recent news from the college (with more coming soon):
- Following roots to future growth
- Reintroducing the California floater mussel
- (Further) congratulations to Gary Meints
- If you would like to see past stories please visit CNAS NewsWatch!
Online Course Development Bootcamp Contact FCTL if you are interested. fctl@missouristate.edu
Calendar
June 8-July 29 | Summer Session |
July 15 | Graduate Assistantship new appointments for Fall 2020 due |
July 15 | Summer intersession grades due by 2 PM |
July 30-31 | Summer session final exam period |
August 3 | Summer grades are due |
August 17 | Fall 2020 semester classes begin today |
Media
- Subscribe to follow CNAS NewsWatch (also available on CNAS homepage)
- Find Dean Jahnke’s past eblasts and subscribe to CNAS Blog.
- Tune in every Thursday morning at 9:45 a.m. for 5-minute STEM Spots on KSMU.
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