Dean's Community Message

Feb. 19, 2021

Dear College of Engineering Community,

Every year, this weekend in February stands out on the Penn State calendar as an example of the good that can come from people uniting with a common purpose. As you know, like so many other experiences, THON is quite different in 2021. Nonetheless, I encourage you to support this year’s virtual event and everyone who is involved, including members of our own College of Engineering community. As part of that support, it is critical that everyone follows all COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, including not hosting or attending large gatherings.

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
—Dalai Lama XIV

Here are today’s updates:

Summer Courses

The University anticipates that decisions on instruction modes for the summer, as well as the course registration timeline, will be made over the next few weeks. In the meantime, for an indication of the types of offerings likely to be available in summer 2021, students are encouraged to use the historical course search tool to review summer 2019 and summer 2020 courses.

Reminder: Universal Re-Testing for Students

Through next week, all students taking in-person classes and those taking a fully remote or online course load while living within a 20-mile radius of University Park, are required to be tested at an on-campus site (University Park: White Building). Students received an email from healthystate@psu.edu on Feb. 9 with instructions on scheduling a testing appointment. If you have not received an email, please contact healthystate@psu.edu. Surveillance testing for employees and students will begin on March 1, when the universal retesting period is completed.

Reminder: Zoom Privacy Settings

Take the necessary measures to prevent incidents of Zoom bombing. This includes allowing only authenticated Penn State users to join a meeting, requiring passwords for participants joining by phone, turning off the chat feature and disabling screen sharing. Additionally, refrain from sharing meeting passwords or changing default settings. Additional tips are available here.

Teaching Tip #76 – Mid course evaluation

Now is a good time to consider adding a mid-course evaluation to your course to gather feedback from students and provide valuable data for making course adjustments. The Keep Teaching site has a sample Canvas survey that you can import into your course and adapt to your needs. Contact the Office for Digital Learning if you need any assistance.

Have a great weekend!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering