Provost’s Message to Faculty, March 13, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
As we come to the end of a turbulent and stressful week, I wanted to write to update you on a few things. But first, I want to express my deep appreciation for the incredible way that all of you have responded to this crisis. You turned your attention to addressing the needs of our students and have been actively taking advantage of the resources available, consulting with staff and your colleagues, responding to multiple student requests and concerns, and working to get ready to teach remotely. I also appreciate that many of you have reached out to me, the Deans, and others in Academic Affairs to get accurate information, answers to questions, or assistance. As you know, this is a time when rumors can be particularly disruptive and harmful, and faculty and staff must demonstrate leadership and professionalism as students look to us to model the constructive and purposeful response to uncertainty and crisis. You have been teaching this as well to our students.
(1) Frequently Asked Questions – The attached FAQs are designed to answer some of the questions that many of you have raised over the past two days. As more questions come in, we will continue to update; these will be hosted on the Provost’s Office website.
(2) Student Communication – In anticipation of Monday’s first day of remote instruction, I plan to send a brief message of encouragement as well as a list of resources to all students late Sunday afternoon. The goal is to provide reassurance and information about the academic student support resources that we will have available remotely. We will share this with you once it is prepared.
(3) Deadlines and other advising matters – On Monday, the Registrar and Academic Services will share a message with all students addressing advising, mid-term deficiencies, the general education switch, changes to pass/fail, and changes to the withdrawal deadlines (in addition to a reminder about the previously announced postponement of advanced registration for the fall semester).
I thank you for your care, commitment, and dedication to our students and to your colleagues during this challenging time. Remember to also take some time to care for yourself, we are all in this together, and we are here for each other.
Please let me know if you have any questions and do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of support to you in any way.
Nina
Nina Mikhalevsky
Provost
University of Mary Washington
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
540-654-1241