Dean's Community Message

April 23, 2021

Dear College of Engineering Community,

With one week to go before the end of spring semester classes, I hope you are doing well at what I know can be an incredibly stressful time of year, particularly at the end of a very emotional week across our nation. During the weekend ahead, please take some time to recharge and look after yourself and those around you. I also want to strongly encourage everyone in our engineering community to get vaccinated. A new location is highlighted in the updates below and you can find other sites online. With everyone over 16 eligible, and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine approved for those ages 16 and 17, the time to act is now!

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall

Here are today’s updates:


Walmart COVID-19 Clinic

Through tomorrow, April 24, Penn State is partnering with Walmart to offer a COVID-19 vaccination clinic that is open to students, employees and dependents of employees age 16 and older. The clinic is inside Pegula Ice Arena on the University Park campus and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Students and employees will be asked to show their Penn State ID upon arrival to the site, and dependents will need to acknowledge that they are the family member of an employee.


REMINDER: ‘Raise Your Hand’ in Starfish if You Can’t Return to Campus for Fall 2021

As the University continues to make plans for in-person instruction for the fall 2021 semester, some residential students may experience unavoidable circumstances (e.g., visa, travel or health-related restrictions) that will prevent them from being on campus. Students impacted by one of these situations are asked to self-identify their status by using the “Raise Your Hand” feature in Starfish. The “Raise Your Hand” feature in Starfish will create an alert for the student, and they can schedule a meeting with their academic adviser to review options for the fall semester and assist with making plans to continue progress to graduation. International students can find more detailed information on the Global Programs fall 2021 webpage or complete the “Submit a Question” form in iStart.

Academic advisers should be aware of the “Raise Your Hand” feature and be ready to identify and support students to help them navigate their options during the fall registration process. Additional information for advisers on how the “Raise Your Hand” process works can be found in this recorded webinar.


Upcoming Deadlines

  • April 25 | Next Gen Penn State Survey: All Penn Staters are encouraged to give their feedback on the characteristics, priorities and goals of Penn State’s next President through the Next GenPenn State Survey. A part of the University’s listening process, the survey will remain open through April 25 and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.
  • May 6 | Alumni Trustees Election: The deadline for Penn State alumni to vote for the 2021 election of trustees by alumni is 9:00 a.m. EST on May 6.

Teaching Tip #88 – Summer Tech TAs Now Available

The Summer 2021 Tech TA Request form is now open. Instructors can request Tech TA support for the Summer 2021 semester by visiting the Tech Tutors website and clicking the Request Tech TA button.


Have a wonderful weekend!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering