Update from State of the Organization

This Thursday, Dr. Cureton shared important campus and financial updates with the community. A clear theme is that we have many reasons to thank God for His provision as we have responded to the challenges COVID-19 has presented. If you were unable to watch the State of the Organization address on Thursday, you can watch a recording of his address here. As Dr. Cureton explained, we are celebrating historic retention levels this spring within a smaller student body, while anticipating potential enrollment and revenue challenges next year. The Senior Leadership Team members will be working institutionally and within each area to generate ideas and opportunities to address these challenges. Please join us in praying for wisdom as we move together through the budget review and adjustment process for 2021-2022.

Prayer for Our Students

The events in our nation in recent days, including those that took place on January 6 at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., have been impacting our campus community in various ways. As you pray for peace in our nation, please pray also for our students, specifically:

• students who are serving our country in various capacities through the National Guard. Please pray for their protection as they serve in the days ahead; 
• students who may be experiencing grief or distress as a result of racist and anti-Semitic symbols on display January 6th.

Please continue to pray for our students, our UNW community, our State, and our Nation throughout these days. Continue to pray for peace and reconciliation in our communities.

Campus Update and Protocol Reminders

Campus resurgence level

The P5 Team is thankful to hear reports from various service departments that our semester has launched smoothly. As you can see by our COVID dashboards, our current numbers are relatively low. However, we remain cautious and well prepared for a potential increase. Because we desire to sustain a strong start to the semester, and because the capacity of area health care systems continues to be stretched, the campus will remain at an Orange status through the month of January. Our status will be carefully monitored and adjusted as internal and external conditions warrant.

Vaccines 

Many questions have arisen regarding UNW's plan for vaccines. Dr. Cureton mentioned in his State of the Organization address that we are pursuing authorization for approval from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to distribute vaccines. We are still early in this process and do not have a timeline identified. We are also waiting for clarification from MDH about the prioritization of higher education employees and students. If you have an opportunity to be vaccinated outside of UNW prior to when we may offer the vaccine on campus, you are welcome to take that opportunity. We will share updates with our community as they become available.

Virtual instruction for students

Any student approved for virtual instruction this spring will appear on your Accommodations Dashboard, accessible on the Faculty & Advisor tab on theROCK. As a reminder, you must be logged on to a computer on the campus network or VPN to access this dashboard.

Classroom photos

Now that Facilities has set classroom furniture to 6-feet distancing, it will be important that the rooms remain configured that way. To support this process, photos that show the correct layout have been taken and placed in all classrooms. If you choose to change the furniture arrangement, please ensure it is reset before your class ends. Thanks much! 

Promoting Active Learning

As we continue to engage students in multiple ways this spring, principles of active learning can help. A recently posted article in eCampus News entitled "What makes students more likely to return to school in spring 2021?" provides findings from a fall 2020 survey indicating your significant impact as faculty. Clearly, "instructors who promote active learning help drive student retention."

The following are some highlights from the article with options for incorporating active learning into your courses in all modalities:

1. Equip students to stay in touch with you. Provide multiple opportunities for your students to connect with you beyond email.
2. Get to know your students. Ask students what their academic goals are. Create a sense of community in your course.
3. Promote discussion and collaboration.
4. Consolidate the number of tools used for your class to reduce tech problems.
5. If you are teaching virtually, make live video a part of your course.

Feedback About Returning to Campus

If you have any feedback that you'd like to share about the return to campus this spring, you are invited to do so through this anonymous form. We appreciate hearing your thoughts!