Dean's Community Message

Feb. 12, 2021

Dear College of Engineering Community,

Happy Friday, and happy lunar new year! I wish you happiness and health in the Year of the Ox! For those of you traveling back to campus this weekend, please be safe in the snow and remember to mask and physically distance. For all of the Penn State engineering community, please do your part to keep the entire community safe by masking, physically distancing, and continuing good hygiene habits. It doesn’t take much to protect not only yourself, but your entire community.

“Kindness is like snow. It beautifies everything it covers.”
—Kahlil Gibran

Here are today’s updates:

COVID-19 Testing Guide for Students and Employees

The University will continue testing students and employees in the Return-to-Work database. Details are below, and the most up-to-date information may be found on the University’s website.

  • Post-Arrival Testing (Feb. 15-26, dates vary by campus): All students, including students who are fully remote but live within 20 miles of a campus, will be retested for COVID-19 after the start of in-person classes. All students should have received an email regarding this testing on Feb. 9 and should have scheduled a testing appointment on their campus. If you have not received an email, please contact healthystate@psu.edu.
  • Surveillance Testing (beginning March 1): Beginning March 1, the University will begin conducting random daily surveillance testing of approximately 2% of the University’s population of students and employees living, learning, or working on campus, as well as those who access campus. This includes all employees working on campus and all students taking in-person classes or living within 20 miles of campus. If selected for surveillance testing, employees and students are required to participate, with few exceptions.
  • Symptomatic Testing (all semester): Throughout both the remote and in-person periods, students and employees who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should seek out symptomatic testing. Students living on the University Park campus or in the local community can schedule testing appointments with University Health Services. Students living on or near other campuses can be tested through their campus health services. Remote students should consult a local health care provider.
  • Asymptomatic Testing (all semester): Asymptomatic students who are quarantining due to close contact with a COVID-positive individual will be able to receive a test between day five and day seven of their quarantine. Students who test negative on or after day five of quarantine will be permitted to end their quarantine after seven days.
  • Walk-Up and Mail-In Testing (all semester): Walk-up testing will be available at the Hintz Alumni Center and Pegula Ice Area starting Feb. 15. This testing is for students alerted by the University’s contact tracing process, as well as for employees who are listed in the University’s Return-to-Work database. However, employees are strongly encouraged to order a Vault Health mail-in test kit.

Feb. 19 Webinar on Mindfulness and Work/Life Balance

The Leonhard Center will host Mark Huerta, lecturer with the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, for a webinar on mindfulness and balancing work and life on Feb. 19 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Register here (Zoom link will be provided after registering). More information is available here.

Teaching Tip #74 – Import Academic Integrity Canvas Module Before Midterm Assessments

A University team led by Chris Masters and Michelle Darnell has created an academic integrity resource in Canvas to help Penn State Instructors communicate high standards of integrity. The Canvas module can be used as-is or adapted to include elements specific to the instructor and/or department academic integrity expectations. To access the module, sign into Canvas, click on the Commons link in the left menu, and then go to the module. Click the “import/download” button to integrate it into a course of your choice. Contact the Office for Digital Learning if you need assistance importing the module.

Take care!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering