Dear Faculty,

I hope your week has been productive and you are experiencing positive engagement with your students in the classroom, in your research labs, in the development of creative works or pursuing their scholarship. This is a good time to encourage your students to register for the annual Student Research Conference as the deadline of March 15 is fast approaching. My research students have initiated their registration and are excited about presenting their research. A big thank you to the Honors College for sponsoring this activity for our students.

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

  • Registration is open for the 13th annual Blackboard Jungle: Reimagining an Inclusive Community. Save the dates March 23 – 26 for the symposium, featuring author Eddie Glaude Jr., LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard and educator Luis Versalles.
  • We have received a number of questions regarding the recent provision of vaccinations for school employees. College and university faculty and staff are not currently eligible to participate in the state’s school vaccination group. We continue to advocate strongly, however, for access to vaccinations for all our faculty and staff. For those of you who are already eligible, we encourage you to register as soon as you are able. Additional information about vaccines is available at the Vermont Department of Health vaccine webpage and from the CDC’s vaccination webpage.
  • A reminder that you may be contacted by a Student Services office with a notification that one of your students will require flexibility for medical reasons. There are many reasons why a student might need flexibility due to a medical condition, including isolation, quarantine due to potential exposure, or another medical reason not related to COVID-19. If a student indicates to you that they are in elective quarantine, but you have not been contacted by their Student Services office, please remind them that they should contact Student Health Services
  • 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).  At this time, attendee spots for the Faculty Coffee & Conversation virtual gathering are open to faculty who have not yet attended a faculty breakfast. If you have already signed up, an email will be sent to you a week before the breakfast to confirm your attendance.  Please register here. Questions may be sent to Kelly O’Malley at presidentialevents@uvm.edu.
  • Reminders and recent communications:
  • You can find detailed information on COVID-19 tests administered and results on the Weekly Testing Report. Last week’s student test results included 9 off-campus positives and 22 on-campus positives out of 11,356 tests. Last week’s faculty and staff test results included 0 positives out of 1,106 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 has been a stressful week for our students with assignments piling up, new expectations for testing twice weekly, and stronger sanctions for students engaging in social gatherings which put them at risk for spreading COVID. The Office of Student Conduct and the Office of the General Counsel have been working overtime to provide a firm but fair, consistent and supportive process to address behavior, and where appropriate mitigating the impact of discipline on students’ educational experience. I appreciate the work of these offices as well as the cooperation of our Student Services teams and the flexibility of faculty in supporting remote learning for students when their circumstances change.

Enjoy your weekend and thank you for all you do to ensure the success of our students.

Warmly,
Patty