Dean's Community Message

May 29, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

I hope this has been a good day in the midst of a good week! Yesterday’s story about the University’s mobilization to donate more than 10,000 pieces of personal protective equipment was a wonderful dose of positive news about how Penn Staters have been stepping up in big ways during this pandemic. Talk about a Penn State pride moment, the spirit of which is reflected in today’s daily quote submission from Mark Bodenschatz, director of the Penn State Facilities Engineering Institute.

“The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.”
—Maya Angelou

Before sharing a few updates, I also wanted to let you know that the upcoming transition to finals provides a good opportunity to reflect on the role and frequency of these community messages. Even as the academic calendar shifts, I am committed to staying in touch and making sure our entire engineering community is as up-to-date as possible. Starting next week, our plan is to shift to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday messages, and then twice weekly after that. Of course, if there are major administrative updates, we will not wait to share those as appropriate.

Here are today’s updates:

Remote Working

As a reminder, remote work for employees continues in light of the governor’s stay-at-home order, which runs through at least Friday, May 8. A decision from the University regarding how employees will be working after Friday, May 8, is expected soon, depending on the latest guidance from the governor and other government and public health authorities.

Sponsored Research Programs

The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research has provided updated guidance related to sponsored research programs. The updates include a decision tool to aid in determining when salaries can be charged to sponsored programs, updated FAQs, sponsor-specific guidance, and a modification to RA64 (Personnel Costs).

De-Stress Fest Online

University Libraries has transitioned its annual De-Stress Fest to an online format. Links to content such as mediation, yoga, and art are intended to help students, faculty, and staff keep stress in check through the upcoming finals week. The content on the site will be available through May 8.

Engineering Community Message: Finals Week

Continue to reach out to our response team at L-COE_CORONA_CRISIS_TEAM@engr.psu.edu if you have questions or concerns. Penn State updates are available on the University’s information site.

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering