[Teaching-Faculty] Spring 2021 semester: begins on Monday

[Office of the Provost/VPAA]

Colleagues,

It is strange to begin to draft what I would like to be a "welcome back"
message to you all, as I know we are all wishing for a return to "normal,"
the way things used to be.  COVID has overstayed its welcome in the many
ways it has negatively impacted our campus life, and so I am choosing not
to frame this message as a "traditional" welcome back.

I have struggled with the same sense of COVID exhaustion that many of you
feel.  This is a strange and isolating time.  Yet, I regularly remind
myself that we are moving one step closer--day by day, month by month--to
the passing of this pandemic.  However our semesters unfold in the future,
we will have lighter and brighter days, where we can again spend the
majority of our time facing each other, without masks, and move away from
the Zoom overload that has been hard on all.

I do want to share a few final reminders about our spring semester:

   -

   All classes will be remote for the first *two* weeks of the semester.
   If you plan to teach in-person/hybrid for the remainder of the semester,
   please consider how to best communicate to students your expectations for
   the first two weeks of fully remote instruction.
   -

   There is no spring break scheduled (largely because of the concern of
   having members of our campus traveling to a multitude of places and
   increasing the chances of a COVID infection spike upon return.
   -

   All of our SUNY approved start-up information related to COVID is
   accessible via a tab at the top of our Plattsburgh homepage, or by clicking
   here <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/covid-19/index.html>.
   -

   If there are any days where the campus is designated as closed due to
   inclement weather, *all* classes will be cancelled (independent of
   modality).

I expect over the next two weeks that I will have additional information to
share with you regarding the return of students to campus and the beginning
of in-person classes/hybrid classes on February 15th. I will update you as
soon as I have any additional information to share.

So I won't say "welcome back,"  but I am looking forward.  I do wish you
the best as you finalize your teaching plans for this new semester and also
hope that you enjoy this final weekend of our winter break.

Sincerely,

Anne


--
ANNE HERZOG,
PhD
(She, Her, Hers)
Provost
Vice President for Academic Affairs
802 Kehoe
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(o) 518-564-5402
plattsburgh.edu <https://www.plattsburgh.edu/>
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