Dean’s Letters

First, thanks for all that you’re doing to make this semester as good as possible. I imagine that it’s not been normal, but hopefully there have been some positive points in the past several weeks.

As we enter the Labor Day Weekend, I want to congratulate everyone for completing our first two weeks of a very unusual fall semester.

For many of us, these weeks have been filled with challenges, anxieties, and complications – sprinkled with bits of joy. Please don’t forget to utilize the many Voiland College and WSU resources available or ask for help when you need it. Always remember: Cougs Help Cougs!

As we continue our preparations for fall semester, I wanted to share some resources that can help guide you through your course design and your interactions with your students this year.

Dr. Xinghui Zhao has been named Director of the School of Engineering and Computer Science (ENCS) at WSU Vancouver.

I recognize that 2020 so far has probably been the most unconventional year of your career and that it is looking like it will continue in this vein. In order to ensure the health and safety of all members of the WSU community, on Friday WSU administrators elected to transition to remote delivery of undergraduate coursework except in exceptional situations for the Fall 2020 Semester.

Most of you by now have read this week’s WSU budget update from WSU Vice President Stacy Pearson. This announcement was the latest step in a comprehensive budget process outlined back in May that included an exercise where Voiland College was asked to develop an expenditure plan for FY2021 that represented a reduction of 10% from the previously budgeted amount.

Now, more than ever, safety is everyone’s concern.

Whether it be in an office, a lab or a classroom, as caretakers of our students and our fellow co-workers, it is all of our responsibilities to uphold safety standards that have been set through the University, through Gov. Inslee’s Safe Start Washington Plan, and that those who return to work attest to through the Return to Campus Request Form, the Return to Work Location Distancing and Disinfection Plan for SARS-CoV2 and COVID-19, and WSU’s COVID‑19 Employee Symptom Attestation program.

I hope this letter finds you enjoying our summer weather!

Things are definitely heating up, both literally and figuratively, as Washington State University’s plans for resuming face-to-face instruction in August start falling into place.