[Uosenate] Updates from the UO Senate & Meeting Minutes

[Elizabeth Skowron]

Dear UO Senators,

Attached please find the minutes from the March 11, 2020 meeting of the University Senate.

We are facing unprecedented times created by the novel COVID-19 pandemic.  As you know, the University of Oregon is closely monitoring the global outbreak and is working in close coordination with local, state, and federal health officials to guide decisions about university operations.  Senate leadership is working with the UO Administration, most notably Provost Patrick Philips, Executive Vice Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success Doneka Scott, Interim Graduate School Dean Kate Mondloch, and the Academic Council (Chair, Frances White), to create guidance on academic continuity planning, develop resources to facilitate high-quality instruction even in these difficult times, and insure that solutions and supports reflect the input of broad representation from across campus. The issues of instructional quality and evaluation are a shared concern between the Senate and Administration and we are working together to maintain academic standards and, at the same time, ensure that the changes we are required to make to teaching, research and scholarship during this period do not have adverse impacts.

We encourage you to visit the UO COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information<https://www.uoregon.edu/coronavirus%20> website often for information, answers to frequently asked questions, and links to important resources.  Other useful resources include Academic Continuity Resources and Guidance for Faculty and Instructors<https://provost.uoregon.edu/academic-continuity-resources-and-guidance>, and the Oregon Health Authority<https://www.oregon.gov/oha/pages/index.aspx>.

In the University Senate, we are preparing behind the scenes to transition upcoming Senate meetings from in-person meetings in the EMU to a remote format for the foreseeable future.  Thus, beginning in April, 2020 and until further notice, we will (1) hold senate meetings via remote teleconferencing using Zoom, and (2) reserve 30 minutes at the outset of each meeting for Open Discussions, after which we will proceed to other scheduled senate business. Please contact us to add a topic to the open discussion section and we will add it and invite relevant members of the administration to participate and/or field queries. Topics may include discussion about how instructors and students are dealing with remote instructional approaches, impacts on research and scholarship, supporting members of our university community, and so forth, and provide additional opportunities for information sharing, for example. As always, we welcome your suggestions for discussion topics.

Please feel free to reach out to us directly as well.  We will continue holding weekly drop-in office hours on Wednesdays 10:00 to 11:30 AM, however effectively immediately, these will occur via zoom meetings through Winter term finals week, and resume during Spring term week 1:


*         Weekly Senate Office Hours:  Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/480455396

You may also contact us directly as well at the email addresses below.  Thank you for your participation in shared governance here at the University of Oregon.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Skowron, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
President, University Senate
eskowron at uoregon.edu

Elliot Berkman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Vice-President/President-Elect, University Senate
berkman at uoregon.edu


Elizabeth A. Skowron, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology
Center for Translational Neuroscience
UO Senate President
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
http://ctn.uoregon.edu/
Tel. 541-346-9329

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