Dean's Community Message

May 28, 2021

Dear College of Engineering Community,

I hope that you have the opportunity to relax during the upcoming long weekend, with Memorial Day on Monday. Whatever your plans for the day, I encourage you take a moment to reflect on the meaning of the holiday and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the United States.

Monday will also mark another significant milestone: Most COVID-19 mitigation orders will be lifted in Pennsylvania. State-wide mandates on gatherings, restaurants, and other businesses will dissolve — however, these updates do not prevent municipalities and schools from continuing and implementing stricter mitigation efforts. For example, Penn State now requires University employees who travel on business to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Importantly, the state continues to mandate mask wearing until 70% of all eligible residents get vaccinated, which will likely be June 28. After that date, we anticipate masks will still be required on public transportation across the Commonwealth, and in self-designated localities and businesses. Penn State continues to require masking and physical distancing inside Penn State campus buildings and on public transportation across campuses. I STRONGLY encourage you to get vaccinated if you have not already done so. More information on vaccines, including where to receive one, is available here.

The latest information regarding University guidance is available on the Penn State COVID-19 website, including the following:

• The University continues to strongly encourage virtual meetings and events whenever possible. Any meeting or event with more than ten people requires University approval. For any size of in-person meeting or event, masks and physical distancing are required, and occupancy limits must be followed.
• Non-employee or non-student campus visitors must be approved by the unit executive. Such a request should include where the visitor is from, if they traveled, why the interaction must be in person, how long they will be on campus.
• Anyone conducting on-campus research must be entered in the Engineering Campus Activity Tracker.
• Any faculty or staff member who must return to campus are required to submit a request for on-site work authorization.

More information, including guidance on employee return to campus, will be shared as it becomes available.

“Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”
—Michelle Obama

Here are today’s updates:

COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Employees on University-Funded Travel

Penn State has updated its travel guidance to address vaccination requirements for employees on University-funded travel. For all domestic and international travel that begins on June 1 or later, all Penn State employees requesting University-affiliated travel that involves University funding must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by their date of departure. There are some exceptions, including employees with travel approved prior to May 25. More information is available here.

Construction Projects at University Park

Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant, Transportation Services, and project contractors are working on construction projects across University Park this summer. More information, including a full list of projects, is available here.

Teaching Tip #92 – Locating Zoom Recordings in Kaltura

Classes recorded in Zoom are automatically saved to Kaltura for long-term storage. This site lists users’ Zoom recordings with their corresponding link in Kaltura to assist users in finding Kaltura links for use in classes.

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering