Dean's Community Message

June 25, 2021

Dear College of Engineering Community,

After days of storms, I hope you’re getting a chance to enjoy this beautiful weather! Summer is in full swing, bringing opportunities for the fully vaccinated among us to gather for the first time in what seems a very long time. For those who are not vaccinated, I continue to strongly encourage you to do so. Everyone aged 12 years or older is eligible to be vaccinated for free.

Once you are vaccinated, I also strongly encourage to upload proof of vaccination to the University. By tracking the vaccination status of students, faculty, and staff, the University will be better positioned to determine mitigation efforts should a new outbreak occur. You can also sign-up for a weekly raffle with prizes ranging from gift cards to a $1,000 payment.

Vaccinations and tracking are especially important as we approach June 28. This is the point at which at least 70% of Pennsylvania residents are fully vaccinated and the Commonwealth will continue to relax mitigation rules. Following June 28, Penn State will also relax some guidelines, including indoor and outdoor masking for vaccinated individuals, and update others, including for meetings. Requests and updates for increasing on-campus research should continue to be submitted via ECAT, and other requests for employees to return to working on campus should continue to be submitted via the HR RTW system. All travel requests must continue to be submitted via ECAT for unit executive approval. Please also continue to submit event and meeting requests via ECAT for unit executive awareness through mid-August, but note that these no longer need approval as long as all other guidelines are followed. More information about the updated measures is available here.

“I’m not throwing away my shot.”
—Alexander Hamilton, paraphrased by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Here are today’s updates:

June 28-29: Student COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic

Penn State University Health Services, a unit of Student Affairs, will host two COVID-19 vaccine clinics for all students at the end of June. On June 28 and June 29, UHS will host the first COVID-19 vaccine clinic for students from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center at University Park. Students will be able to receive the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Students must schedule an appointment via myUHS in order to receive a vaccine. Second doses will be made available on July 26 and July 27.

Next Gen Penn State Report: Presidential Search

The Next Gen Penn State Advisory Group presented findings of the spring’s Next Gen Penn State listening process, which includes the feedback of more than 14,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and other community members. Penn State community members can contact the Board of Trustees at bot@psu.edu or the executive search firm at PennStPresident@SpencerStuart.com with additional questions and input.

Teaching Tip #94 – Simple Canvas Course Setup

When preparing your second summer session course, check out these simple canvas course setup recommendations to help your students stay on track, navigate your course easily, and find what they need. As always, contact the Office for Digital Learning for more information or assistance.

Please remember that you are always welcome to connect with me via email or LinkedIn! Have a wonderful weekend!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering