April 5, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
While the prospects of the emerging spring are now in sight, it has been a difficult couple of weeks throughout the United States. From the shooting in Atlanta and acts of anti-Asian violence, to the gunfire in Colorado and the re-living of George Floyd’s tragic death in the trial of Derek Chauvin. I am saddened by these continued unnecessary and tragic acts of violence and my heart is aching for the families of these victims and everyone in their communities. I want to affirm that IU South Bend does not tolerate any acts of racism, bigotry or prejudice. Nearly one-third of our student population is students of color and IU South Bend as a community is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in all we do. I encourage everyone to use our campus resources, such as the , to learn more about the history of racial injustice and how to be an agent for change in our community.
Good News to Share
I am pleased to share that the LIFT Network of the South Bend/Elkhart Regional Partnership has made a Digital Skills Accelerator grant award of $350,000 for the IU South Bend Digital Skills Pipeline Project. This is in addition to a $50,000 planning grant already awarded. Funding will provide two-years of support for curriculum and program development in designated subjects, community and workforce education, high school outreach and more. Congratulations to the IU South Bend team who worked on this grant application! This is one of many grants our campus has recently received. All together these grants have resulted in over $1 million for IU South Bend program development thanks to the hard work of our advancement team partnering with our faculty and staff.
Grab-and-Go Treat
I want to invite you all to celebrate the start of spring with a grab-and-go breakfast on Wednesday, April 7th from 9:00am to 10:00am. We will have tables set up in Northside Hall and the University Center (as well as a table at the Elkhart Center at 10:00am). Please look for more information in the Daily Titan.
Get Your Vaccine
As many of you know, all Hoosiers age 16 and above are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, even if you reside in a different state. Mass vaccination clinics are being held throughout our area to meet the demand. Visit to schedule your appointment to get the vaccine. After you've received a vaccine dose, please to help support our continued efforts to fight the pandemic and keep the campus community safe.
It pays to get vaccinated in more ways than one. Those fully vaccinated will be removed from mitigation testing selection. Additionally, those fully vaccinated will no longer have to quarantine if identified as a close contact. “Fully vaccinated" means having received all doses of the vaccine at least two weeks prior and having reported it to IU. Such individuals will still need to self-report being a close contact (if notified outside of the IU system) and monitor for any COVID-19 symptoms through IU's own daily symptom monitoring system, COVIDcheck. Please note that anyone with a positive COVID-19 test must still isolate for 10 days, even if fully vaccinated and asymptomatic.
Caution Still Required
Despite the great news about the vaccine, we must remain vigilant. COVID-19 cases have been increasing again and there is still a high enough level of transmission in our community to remain concerned. And, neighboring Michigan has one of the highest number of COVID-19 cases per capita right now. Campus positivity still remains low, but our current health and safety policies, including mask wearing, will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Our current event restrictions will also remain in place until at least July 31.
IU Leadership Transition
As many of you have heard, Executive Vice President and IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel recently announced her retirement from her current role. On Friday, President McRobbie announced his appointment of Executive Vice President John Applegate as interim executive vice president and IU Bloomington provost. While EVP Applegate is in this role, IU Kokomo Chancellor Sue Sciame-Giesecke will serve as interim executive vice president for University Academic Affairs. While we will miss EVP Applegate during this time, Chancellor Giesecke will do a fine job working with and advocating for regional campuses. As the senior regional chancellor, I have enjoyed working and learning from her over the last two years and look forward to working with her in this new role.
Looking Ahead
As a reminder, we are planning Fall 2021 in-person with a return to mostly typical operations. Currently 77% of our course sections for Fall 2021 are scheduled to be fully in-person, only slightly down from Fall 2019 when it was 84%. We are working on a timeline for a return to fully on-campus work and learning and I look forward to sharing more details with you over the next few months.
Finally, I want to conclude by encouraging you to take time for yourselves. The weather is finally conducive to spending more time outdoors, so please take advantage of that opportunity. I already have some time off scheduled for this summer and I encourage you to do the same. Make sure to take time to unplug from your work and recharge, visit safely with family and friends. A lot has happened in the last year and your wellbeing matters.