March 16, 2020
Dear L&S Colleagues,
This is an update to my message from March 12 and what has been and will continue to be shared through the University’s messages and special COVID-19 website, www.covid19.wisc.edu. The situation is evolving constantly, and I want to keep you informed of the College’s plans, resources and actions on a regular basis.
The important message is that we are committed to providing the College’s units, faculty, staff and students with L&S Central Administration support for academic instruction, research, human resources, communications, budget, student services and academic and career advising, and all other support needed to continue essential operations.
As you all know, a key priority is to complete academic instruction for the semester; we must do so for our students. To that end, the Continuity of Instruction teams at the department, college, and campus levels are working diligently to ensure that we are ready to begin alternate delivery of classes on March 23. We have collectively made remarkable progress over the past few days to this end. This is a herculean effort by many, and I thank you for your exceptional work. As we move forward this week, please keep our students, graduate and undergraduate alike, in mind. I have heard from some of our students; they are stressed, anxious, and not quite sure what is coming next.
We also need to continue necessary support services that are critical to ongoing University and College operations. At this juncture, L&S Central Administration expects to be able to maintain our support of key functions. Please note that with many individuals working remotely, turnaround times may be longer than usual, so please exercise patience and understanding. It would be best if you communicate via e-mail, rather than telephone, given that many are not in the office. Those principles of patience and understanding hold true in your units, as well.
More generally, we are currently reviewing priorities as well as upcoming deadlines and related processes to determine if modifications are possible; we will provide detailed updates to department chairs, directors and administrators in the very near future.
Finally, it is critical that we maintain excellent communication and support one another. Our priority is to make sure you have the resources and information you need during this fast-changing time. Please check the website https://covid19.wisc.edu/ frequently, and review the University’s overview document that is very useful to determine the status of campus operations: https://covid19.wisc.edu/campus-operational-overview/
What we are doing is truly remarkable in the face of unprecedented societal upheaval. I know the same stress and anxiety our students are feeling is felt by all of us. Be sure to take care of yourself and those around you.
Thank you for all you do for the College, and On, Wisconsin!
Eric M. Wilcots
Interim Dean, College of Letters & Science
Mary C. Jacoby Professor of Astronomy