Dean's Community Message

September 1, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

Happy second week of classes and first week of September! I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. Please continue to do your part by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and avoiding large gatherings. As a community, we are all in this together, so please act responsibly and help protect one another.

Today’s inspirational quote reminds us why our work now is so important:

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”
—Oprah Winfrey

Here are today’s updates:

Flexible Work Arrangements

In the event that surrounding school districts change their modes of delivery in the coming days or weeks, we know this will demand additional schedule flexibility for some of our staff and faculty. Please work with your supervisor to develop a plan for if and when your personal circumstances change. As has been the case since March, we will continue to support flexible work arrangements as a college. Also, if you have tips or tricks for balancing work and life with school-age children during this uncertain time, please consider sharing them with the broader engineering community by emailing L-COE_CORONA_CRISIS_TEAM@engr.psu.edu. We may select some for inclusion in future community messages.

Employee Guidance for Labor Day Holiday 2020

Since students will be attending classes on Labor Day (Sept. 7), many Penn State employees may be required to work. Employees who must work will be eligible for compensation and compensatory time, as outlined here. Employees required to work on this holiday should be limited to those that are truly necessary. If you are unsure if you are required to work on this day, please contact your supervisor for more guidance.

Reminder: University COVID-19 Dashboard

As a reminder, the University has launched a COVID-19 dashboard that will display data from its COVID-19 surveillance testing program as well as the number of individuals in isolation and quarantine. The dashboard will be updated weekly to align with the University’s weekly reporting schedule with the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Teaching Tip #38 – Share your ideas with your colleagues

With the first week of the semester complete, if you have any useful teaching tips, tricks, tools, or technologies, share your ideas with a colleague. Community and collaboration often provide the greatest support. The Office for Digital Learning is also collecting stories of how our faculty are using digital tools in practice. Drop us a quick line at odl@engr.psu.edu if you have a tip to share.

Take care!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering