Dear Faculty,

I hope you’ve had the opportunity to participate in Black Board Jungle this week. I attended all of the sessions and have found them to be deeply meaningful and thought-provoking. They’ve also provided me with some practical tools to help lead challenging conversations and to support change.

I want to thank those who shared messages about acts of kindness and your creative haiku in response to last week’s faculty digest. You put a smile on my face, and more importantly you made your colleagues and students smile.

Acts of kindness are especially important at this time when so many, both here and across the country, have been impacted by a week of mass shootings, bias incidents, and rising COVID-19 numbers. Now more than ever, we need to reach out and support one another. Please take care of yourselves and if you feel you need support, resources are available through the University’s Employee Assistance Program.

As I do each week, I’m writing to share some reminders and additional information that I hope is helpful to you.

  • Another reminder that the deadline for students to withdraw from classes is April 8. It is especially important that faculty provide updated grade information and make use of our Academic Alert system so that students have a good sense of their academic standing in your course prior to the withdraw deadline. Academic Alerts can be used to communicate concerns around attendance, class preparation, classroom behavior, incomplete assignments, and poor grades. Just click on “Update” in the “Academic Alert” column on the class roster, which you can access via the MyUVM portal. You can add notes to the generated letter to give students and their academic advisor(s) additional information on specific faculty concerns.
  • The CDC recently announced guidance for fully vaccinated individuals. Since the vast majority of the UVM community remains unvaccinated, UVM’s requirements on campus – including testing, face coverings, and social distancing – remain unchanged. UVM still limits employee work-related travel. Additionally, UVM’s definition of a student household remains the same and households are not permitted to mix at this time. Read more here.
  • Last week, the governor announced the timeline for the remaining COVID-19 vaccine age bands. We encourage all members of our community to get the vaccine as soon as they become eligible. These newly eligible Vermonters can register online at healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine or by calling 855-722-7878. All Vermonters are encouraged to create an account ahead of time. The remaining age bands will become eligible for registration on the following timeline:

Age        Registration Starts
60+        March 25            
50+        March 29                            
40+         April 5                  
30+        April 12                
16+        April 19

  • To protect yourself and our community, this is a good time to recommit to avoiding crowded spaces, social gatherings, and travel whenever possible. Face coverings should fully cover your mouth and nose. And of course, always wash your hands with soap.
  • Richard Cate’s recent message noted that the addendum to the existing UVM Travel Policy has been revised for summer 2021 travel, and reflects the most current state and University requirements. Fall 2021 guidelines will be issued in June, with the understanding that the situation is fluid and subject to change as the Vermont Governor’s Office and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) requirements are updated. For this reason, students, faculty and staff should not purchase tickets for fall 2021 travel until the fall 2021 guidelines are available. If conditions improve and travel can resume sooner than fall 2021, this addendum will be revised. The policy of holding travel expenditures made on PurCards pending approval of travel will continue until further notice.
  • Last week Simeon Ananou and Jim Vigoreaux wrote to you announcing the beginning of a Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the Learning Management System (LMS), currently Blackboard Learn. A critical part of the RFP is collecting feedback from instructors about their priorities for an LMS. From previous UVM faculty surveys and research, the LMS Review Committee has identified approximately 140 features that will be included in the RFP. Since many features and tools are similar across all major learning management systems, a new survey was created to help the committee distinguish between “must have” and “nice to have” LMS options.  Please help shape this RFP process by completing this brief survey.
  • Reminders and recent communications:
    • Fall registration will take place the week of April 5; please begin scheduling times to connect with your advisees to discuss fall course selection. Please also encourage your advisees to stay academically engaged with us this summer; Summer University registration is now open.
    • 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.
  • You can find detailed information on COVID-19 tests administered and results on the Weekly Testing Report. Last week’s student test results included 69 off-campus positives and 24 on-campus positives out of 18,747 tests. Last week’s faculty and staff test results included 2 positives out of 1,120 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.

With the weather reminding us that spring brings new life and new beauty, I am hopeful for a better week. Keep sharing the best of yourselves and your kindness with our students, our staff, and with one another.

Warmly,
Patty