Dean's Community Message

April 7, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

In yesterday’s message, I asked for your “Because I couldn’t …” sentences — ways in which the COVID-19 situation has revealed new opportunities and perspectives. Please keep them coming! I wanted to share a few we’ve gotten so far from around the college:

“Because I couldn’t stay in the U.S., I came home and was able to be with my family and help my younger siblings with their school work and really get to know my younger siblings again.”
—Sarah Almarzooqi, Biomedical Engineering ’20

“Because I couldn’t go to the office today, I opened up the balcony doors and worked underneath a canopy of treetops.”
—Robin Tate, Assistant Professor, SEDTAPP

“Because I couldn’t go to church, I have been calling other families in our church and really getting to connect with them instead of just the normal ‘hi’ or ‘good morning.’”
—Lea Caprio, Administrative Assistant, Mechanical Engineering

“Because I couldn’t spend Easter dinner with my geographically dispersed family, we are doing a Virtual Family Dinner on Sunday via Zoom.”
—Jonathan Dougherty, Architectural Engineering ’99, ’06 Ph.D.

Here are some updates for today:

Spring Commencement

Related to yesterday’s announcement that the University will hold spring 2020 commencement via livestream on May 9, we are currently developing additional plans in the college and within each department for virtually celebrating our engineering graduates. Those plans are expected to be finalized soon, and we will share with the community as soon as possible. Please keep in mind, Penn State is also committed to inviting the Class of 2020 back for in-person celebrations when public health guidelines allow. When the time comes, the University will share more details.

Red Cross Donations

If you are feeling healthy, please consider making an appointment to donate blood. The Red Cross has offered the following alert: Donating blood products is essential to community health and eligible donors are strongly urged to donate during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Red Cross follows the highest standards of safety and infection control, and volunteer donors are the only source of blood for those in need. Learn more.

Remote Teaching Tips

Twice each week, the college’s Office for Digital Learning and the Leonhard Center are offering Remote Teaching Tips (RTT) for faculty who are adjusting to the remote teaching environment. For assistance in using any of these suggestions, contact the Office for Digital Learning.

RTT #1: Communication with your students is vital to keeping your students engaged. Consider posting a weekly video announcement in Canvas with a look forward to what is coming up in the next week. Make sure to reach out routinely to students to see how they’re doing, and schedule regular Zoom office hours to be available for questions or concerns. Consider adding a survey in Canvas to ask students to reflect on how the course is going. Use Speedgrader in Canvas to provide feedback on student assignments to keep students on track.

Beware Phishing

We’ve received a new alert of a phishing scheme (below) that purports to be from me and asks the recipient to provide a mobile number. Please ignore and be wary of other similar requests.

Send me your available text number that I can reach you at —

Schwartz, Justin
Dean and professor
College of Engineering

Tips for avoiding such scams are available from Penn State’s Office of Information Security.

Upcoming Virtual Events

  • April 9, 4:30 p.m. (EDT): Leadership of the Graduate School will host a virtual town hall at liveevents.psu.edu to provide updates and answer graduate students’ questions about the school’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
  • April 9, 6:00 p.m. (EDT): The Center for Engineering Outreach and Inclusion in the College of Engineering will host a panel discussion on ally-ship with representatives from Student Care and Advocacy, Gender Equity, Veterans Programs, and the Student Disability Resources Center. Register here.
  • April 10, Noon (EDT): The Penn State Council of Sustainable Leaders will host a Sustainability Showcase with Nicholas Unis, a current Penn State student and CEO of UnisBrands. He will be speaking about his 3D printed sustainable footwear venture. Hosted via Zoom.

Please continue to submit your appreciation for members of the engineering community. Penn State updates are available on the University’s coronavirus information site. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and follow the college on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Take care!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering