November 24, 2020
Greetings,
As I walked across campus the other day, I saw the trees that we planted together last fall and was reminded of the importance of community, our community. I am grateful for all of you and everything you do, every day, to make a difference in the lives of our students and our community. Before we head into the holidays, I want to provide you with a campus update in the form of . This Fall Campus Update provides important information on our budget, enrollment, marketing, economic impact, community engagement, and more. Here are some additional campus updates and information that I hope you will find useful.
Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
It is my pleasure to announce that Jill Pearon will join IU South Bend as our next Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. She will begin her position on February 15th. Jill brings a wealth of experience to our campus. I am looking forward to her leadership as we construct a new campus strategic plan and set a course for a strong future that supports our mission to serve the communities of North Central Indiana. She currently serves as Interim Dean for the Crane School of Music and Associate Provost and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the State University of New York at Potsdam where she is also a Professor in the Crane School. You can read more about Jill in . Please help me welcome Jill to IU South Bend.
I would also like to thank Linda Chen for her leadership and service as interim Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs these past two and a half years. On December 14, she will return to her faculty position in Political Science. Doug McMillen, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, will serve as acting EVCAA from December 14 until Jill’s arrival. I would also like to thank Justin Amellio, Associate Professor of Theater at IU South Bend, and Vicki Roman-Lagunas, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at IU Northwest for their leadership of the search and to all members of the search and screen committee.
Time to Celebrate!
On the afternoon of December 9, I have a special surprise grab ‘n’ go celebration planned in several locations for the campus community from 1:00pm to 2:30pm, followed-up by a Coffee with the Chancellor from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Be sure to save the date and be on the lookout in the Daily Titan for additional details.
Strategic Planning – Next Town Hall
Also, be sure to save the date for our next Strategic Planning Town Hall on December 11 from 10:00am to 12:00pm. More details about the Town Hall will be shared via the Daily Titan in the coming weeks. Thanks again to the members and leadership of the Campus Directions Committee for their tremendous efforts in organizing our strategic planning process this year.
November through February
Though campus will be transitioning to remote learning after November 20, the campus will remain open except for December 24 – January 3 when we will close for the holidays. Departments will continue to offer in-person service during business hours. Staff will continue to stagger schedules as they have done this fall to keep campus density low. Thanks again to everyone for your flexibility and efforts to help us keep the campus open and accessible. You can access building hours for the next few months here. Moving classes online will create an even safer campus environment for employees, and those on campus can expect to experience an increase in their selection for mitigation testing, which will continue into the spring. We will continue to monitor our campus and community trends and will let you know of any changes to our operations. I also encourage your participation in our . Dr. Carroll did a special session for IU South Bend earlier this month that you can access at this link.
Flu Vaccination
Remember to get your or request an exemption by December 1. If you get your flu shot at a non-IU facility, you must . Thanks to our Health and Wellness Center for their flu vaccine clinics.
In closing, I want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We are all struggling with COVID fatigue, so I hope you can find ways during the holiday break to take some time off to relax, re-energize, and rejuvenate. I also hope you will find time to think of all the things we have to be grateful for despite the tragedy and uncertainty of this pandemic. And I hope you will find peace with family and friends however you choose to connect.
Please do remember that the greatest risk for contracting the virus is interactions with friends and family, so please be careful. You are important members of the Titan family! The Fairbanks School of Public Health has put together some resources for that I hope you will check out.