Dear Faculty,

In his memo to our community earlier this week, President Garimella aptly noted that, “we are all exhausted and frayed by the constant demands of the past year.” This has been one more in a series of challenging weeks. Somehow, the pandemic seems to be both nearing its end and interminable; stress and anxiety are taking their toll on our students; and our faculty and staff continue to devote extraordinary efforts to the success of our institution under demanding personal and professional circumstances. Early in the pandemic, when we were still trying to understand its very nature, and well before work on a vaccine had even begun, we recognized that this would be a marathon, not a sprint. And here we are – perhaps around mile 23 or so, embracing the miracle of the vaccine and facing the reality of variants. These last few miles are going to be difficult -- the last months of the spring semester are frenetic in the best of times -- but I have faith in the strength, determination, and resilience of our community. We can, and will, get through this together.

As I do each week, I’m writing to share some important information with you.

  • The deadline for students to withdraw from classes is April 8. This semester it is especially important that faculty provide updated grade information and make use of our Academic Alert system so that students have an accurate picture of where they stand in your course prior to the withdraw deadline. You can issue an early warning through the Academic Alert system. Academic Alerts can be used to communicate concerns around attendance, class preparation, classroom behavior, incomplete assignments, and poor grades. Faculty can easily generate warning letters by clicking on “Update” in the “Academic Alert” column on the class roster, which you can access via the MyUVM portal at https://myuvm.uvm.edu. Faculty can then add notes to the generated letter to give the student and their academic advisor(s) additional information on specific faculty concerns.
  • Reading/respite days on March 24 and April 15 were added to the spring semester calendar to provide students and faculty alike with an opportunity to catch up or take a break as we make our way through the semester. There are no classes on March 24 and April 15. As a result there should be no required appointments or meetings, no labs, no exams, and no makeup work online that is added to students’ regular workloads on these days. It is important that you, and our students, have these brief periods of respite.
  • The fall Schedule of Courses is now live. In preparation for fall registration, which will take place week of April 5, please begin scheduling times to connect with advisees to discuss course selection. Many faculty advisors have found Navigate Appointment Campaigns and other tools to be very helpful for setting up registration advising. How-to guides for using Navigate can be found here.
  • The Learning Management System Review Committee has resumed the important task of evaluating the overall state of the Blackboard environment. Blackboard has been UVM’s Learning Management System (LMS) since 2008. In 2018-19, a stakeholder group was convened to assess general satisfaction with Blackboard; identify core Learning Management System features; and review other Learning Management Systems with strong US market-share. The committee’s work was interrupted by the COVID-19 crisis but has now resumed. The success of this effort depends on the involvement of campus stakeholders. You can submit feedback at any time by visiting the LMS Evaluation at UVM web site. In addition to the feedback form, this site has information about the process, decision-making criteria, and milestone dates.
  • All courses working with external community partners are invited to request a Service Learning designation. Courses working with UVM partners, preparing students for community-engaged work, or focusing on civic learning are invited to request a Civic Learning designation. Contact the Office of Community-Engaged Learning (CELO) for more information.
  • Reminders and recent communications:
    • Plans for the fall 2021 semester are outlined in this March 15 memo.
    • Dean Thomas and I issued a joint statement on March 15 affirming the core values that support the strength of our university.
    • President Garimella asked for our community’s continued vigilance and cooperation during the last phase of this semester in his March 14 memo.
      Submissions for the James M. Jeffords Grant Program for Policy Studies are due by 4:30 pm on March 26, 2021.
    • The dates of the remaining Academic Reorganization Thematic Input Sessions: Food, Environment, and Sustainability on March 23; Health Professions on March 25; and, STEM on March 29; these themed sessions will be followed by a campus-wide working session.
    • There are a few spots available for the remaining Faculty Coffee & Conversations with President Garimella and Provost Prelock on Wednesday, March 31 (8:00-9:00 AM) and Wednesday, April 28 (8:00-9:00 AM).  Please register here.
    • Registration is open for the 13th annual Blackboard Jungle: Reimagining an Inclusive Community.
    • Summer University registration opened February 18; please encourage your students to stay academically engaged with us this summer.
  • You can find detailed information on COVID-19 tests administered and results on the Weekly Testing Report. Last week’s student test results included 20 off-campus positives and 21 on-campus positives out of 19,502 tests. Last week’s faculty and staff test results included 0 positives out of 1,167 tests. As you know, new and more contagious strains of the virus have emerged. Please recommit to all COVID-19 safety precautions and practices and refrain from travel and gathering. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to participate in regular testing.

This week, I’m going to close by asking each of you to be especially and intentionally kind to yourselves, to your students, and to each other over the next several months. Now is the time for random, or better yet purposeful, acts of kindness and compassion. Thank a fellow Catamount for wearing their mask; tape a haiku about bubbles to the soap dispenser (with a cc to me!); write a note of gratitude to a colleague; be generous with compliments and even more generous with your smiles. There is great power in the small ways we can lift each other up.

Warmly,
Patty