Dean's Community Message

October 16, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

This week, I did two critical things for the health and safety of our community: I got my flu shot, and I voted. I strongly encourage you to do the same.

Flu vaccines are more important than ever this year, especially for people at higher risk for flu since they are also higher risk for COVID-19. We can all do our part to protect ourselves and each other by getting vaccinated. Student flu vaccine clinic information is available here; employee flu vaccine clinic information is available here. My experience on campus (Stadium West parking lot) was fast and easy. I never got out of my car!

The deadline to register to vote in Pennsylvania is Monday, Oct. 19. Students can change their registration address to campus if they wish to do so, but that request must be made by Monday, Oct. 19, as well. More voting guidance for students can be found on the Penn State Student Voting Guide website, and voting resources for Pennsylvania residents can be found on VotesPA.com.

“Voting is an expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world.”
—Sharon Salzberg

Here are today’s updates:

Immunization Requirements and Spring Registration

Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 27, LionPATH registration holds will be placed for students who have not submitted mandatory immunization information through myUHS. The registration hold will prohibit students from scheduling for spring 2021 courses until the requirement has been met. More details are available here, and an instruction sheet to assist students in uploading their records is available here.

In-Person Meetings for Student Organizations

Students organizations who need to meet in person must have the commitment of their adviser or designee to attend the meeting before submitting the request to reserve space. Please contact the Office of Student Activities.

Faculty Back-to-State Updates

As a reminder, faculty can find the latest updates on University news and actions related to COVID-19, as well as a number of resources to help navigate on-campus instruction this fall and beyond, here.

Recording: Oct. 15 University Q&A Session

President Barron’s Oct. 15 Q&A session with Kelly Wolgast, director of the COVID-19 Operations Control Center is available for viewing here.

Teaching Tip #50 – Another option for gathering mid semester student feedback

In addition to the EFTE questionnaire developed by the Leonhard Center for faculty to collect mid-semester feedback from students, the Keep Teaching site also provides sample questionnaires for each of this semester’s teaching modes. See the instructions for how to download these questionnaires from Canvas Commons and import them into your course.

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering