Joy and gratitude this week!
From: McFadden, David F. <DFMcFadden@manchester.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2020 10:15 AM
To: All Colleagues <AllColleagues@manchester.edu>
Subject: Joy and gratitude this week!
Dear Colleagues,
We made it to our goal! By tomorrow, most residential students will be heading home for Thanksgiving, and all of our students will move to remote learning beginning Monday, Nov. 30.
Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen – faculty who adapted to unfamiliar ways of teaching, coaches who found creative ways to give student-athletes a meaningful experience, custodial staff who disinfected learning and living spaces, and staff who helped students navigate challenges from mental health to finances to IT support. Thank you, too, to those who helped with over 2000 tests, contact tracing, students in isolation and quarantine, and so many other extra duties.
One of our undergraduate students told me this week that he didn’t think we’d make it past the middle of September. We were both glad he was wrong. I talked on Monday with our Student Senate executive board about how tired everyone is, physically and mentally. I was encouraged by what they told me: faculty and staff clearly care about students and students clearly care about us. These past few months have been a heavy lift and we could not have made it without pulling together.
Remote work through the New Year
As we brace regionally and nationally for some difficult weeks ahead, we are adjusting our plans for work on campus.
Because of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Indiana and beyond, we are asking all MU colleagues to work from home, if you can, effective immediately. Some colleagues need or prefer to be on campus to do their work, and that is fine. If you don’t need to be on campus, though, we encourage you work remotely. We want to do our part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.
As in the past when we’ve done this, please communicate with your supervisor about your plans and the needs in your area. This time around, though, you don’t need permission or to let us know if you will be working from campus.
With the exception of our two-week holiday break, we will continue working from home as much as possible until at least Monday, Jan. 11. We will communicate with you during the first week of January about our plans moving forward.
Contributing to regional vaccination efforts
As good news emerges about vaccine development, we look forward to life getting back to normal, and our own pharmacy students may help in that effort.
Jennifer Campbell, associate dean of academic programs at our Fort Wayne campus, reports that community health care partners are interested in pharmacy students helping to administer vaccines when they become available. We are grateful for the opportunity to help our communities, and it’s a great example of our mission at work.
Time for a happy dance!
I sent a thank you video to our students this morning and included a Thanksgiving happy dance video. As I told them, works can’t express my gratitude for all they’ve done this semester. I’m not sure an app-generated happy dance does it either, but this is certainly a moment for joy and gratitude however it is expressed.
Be well, be safe and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Dave
Dave McFadden
President
Manchester University
260-982-5050