Dean's Community Message

May 22, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

“Perhaps in the waiting, we are not wasting time, but doing that hard work of finding new rhythms in a quieter, slower version of life.”
—Morgan Harper Nichols

In this current state of “waiting,” amidst our remote working and social distancing, this quote — submitted by Kaitlyn Pigeon, industrial engineering undergraduate student — felt extremely relevant.

Here are today’s updates:


Return to Workplace Processes

As reported in the latest issue of Penn State Today, the University’s Return to Work Task Group has developed materials for an eventual and coordinated return to the workplace. Note that all employees currently working remotely should continue to do so until further notice. Within the college, our Facilities, Safety, and IT teams are coordinating with the Office of Physical Plant, Environmental Health and Safety, and senior leadership to discuss updates to their request processes, forms, and data. We are developing a college process to meet the needs of these central stakeholders as well as Human Resources and the Return to Work Task Group. Our intent is to be efficient, transparent, adaptable, and scalable — minimizing repetitive data entry and maximizing information availability for those who need to review and monitor status. At this time, we encourage supervisors to familiarize themselves with the return to workplace resources but to refrain from submitting the authorization forms as we work to establish and align our college process.


Return to On-Campus Research Activities

The college is continuing to develop our plan and preparations for the gradual return to restricted on-campus research activities. Engineering departments will be working with their faculty to identify lab spaces where we will begin to gradually increase on-campus work. We expect to have our plan submitted to the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research by early next week. Details on the coordination of ramp-up in non-COE controlled facilities will be forthcoming.


University-Wide Return to Campus Surveys: Faculty/Staff and Students

University leaders are seeking employee feedback via a new survey launched this past Wednesday (May 20) to help make strategic decisions about how and when Penn State employees should return to their workplaces when current restrictions related to COVID-19 are lifted. While various scenarios for a safe return to campus are being considered, these survey questions will provide leadership with valuable insight into employee needs, attitudes, and opinions. If you have not done so already, I encourage you to take this survey.

Students have been requested to participate in a similar survey launched by the Return to Campus and Community task group. In order to have the time to analyze the survey results and take into account the student perspective in the decision-making process, this survey was sent to a random sample of 17,000 students at University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses. As the data are analyzed, the Return to Campus task group will share the survey results with the Penn State community. Further, the task group is planning for future surveys as well as focus groups for students to provide the insights the University needs before returning to in-person experiences.


Virtual Workshop Series: Successes and Lessons Learned from Remote Teaching

As a reminder, the Leonhard Center and the Office for Digital Learning are hosting a series of debriefing sessions for faculty to learn from the spring 2020 transition to remote learning. There are two sessions remaining. The session on Wednesday, May 27, will focus on large classes, and the session on Thursday, May 28, will focus on labs.


Zoom Update Reminder

As a reminder, due to an encryption update, all Zoom users will need to upgrade to the latest version of Zoom by May 30. A disruption to service could occur if the update is not completed. Most users can simply choose “Check for Updates” on the Zoom menu. More instructions on how to update can be found here. If you have difficulty or have questions reach out to your departmental IT personnel.


Remote Teaching Tip #10: Establish and communicate a regular schedule for accessing your course

Early in the course, it is important to let your students know how often you will be accessing your Canvas course section. Normally once a day is appropriate, but you may also need log in more often during exams or other deadlines. For more tips about teaching online, contact the Office for Digital Learning.


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

I hope you all have a relaxing Memorial Day weekend, and I hope you find some time to unplug!

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering