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Dear OSU-Cascades students,

 

The decrease in COVID-19 cases statewide and in Deschutes County, along with an increase in vaccination production is wonderful news. It means that throughout OSU, we’re increasingly positive about a return to our campuses in fall 2021 for predominantly in-person teaching, learning and working.

 

I hope you share my excitement about OSU President Alexander’s announcement last week about fall planning, and I hope you had an opportunity to hear directly from Provost and Executive Vice President Ed Feser and other OSU leaders during the recent Zoom town hall. 

 

Here at OSU-Cascades, I have charged our COVID-19 Incident Management Team (IMT), led by Kelly Sparks, associate vice president for finance and strategic planning, to ramp up planning for a fall term resumption. The team will prepare us with plans for the highest level of on-campus operations possible within federal, state and local health guidelines and OSU policy.

 

The IMT is prioritizing health and safety measures and the return of classroom instruction, in-person research and on-campus experiences for students. IMT workgroups are to develop fall resumption plans by April 1 in the areas of public health, physical space modifications, housing, dining, campus programming, human resources, student communications, faculty and staff communications, and transportation. The plans will allow for flexibility, so that we can adjust should public health conditions change.

 

The workgroups also are considering the needs of OSU-Cascades students within every area possible. For the latest updates, I hope you’ll continue to monitor your weekly communications from Jane Reynolds, executive director of student success, and from the Office of Student Life.  Next month, the OSU-Cascades Safety and Success webpage will be updated with the status of plans for fall.

 

If you have feedback or recommendations for the workgroups as we look to fall term, send them to [email protected].

 

It’s been nearly a full year since OSU-Cascades moved to remote operations. I thank the IMT for the work it is doing to help our campus community return to a sense of normalcy.  And I thank our entire campus community, and especially students, for navigating the challenges brought by the pandemic. 

 

It’s wonderful to see light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Sincerely,

 

Becky Johnson

Vice President

Category: 
OSU-Cascades
Send Date: 
Wednesday, March 10, 2021