Academic leaders,
This weekly newsletter is designed to share information of interest to the academic community.
Three key messages to amplify
This is the seventh week of spring semester. As we near the midpoint of spring 2021, please amplify these three messages within your academic communities:
- Focus the instructional break on wellness. The first of our spring 2021 instructional breaks will take place tomorrow and Wednesday (Feb. 23-24). Thank you for reminding instructors that classes are not scheduled these days, and instructors also should not be assigning academic work with the expectation that students complete it during the break. These breaks were designed with student wellness in mind. Guidance has been posed on the OAA webpage.
- Watch the State of the University Address. President Kristina M. Johnson announced plans last week to add 350 new tenure-track faculty members, invest more than $750 million in cutting-edge research and provide undergraduate students with a debt-free undergraduate education within a decade. Learn more about her inaugural State of the University Address through the video and transcript and through the Ohio State News story.
- Innovation District partnership to boost STEM. Gov. Mike DeWine, JobsOhio, Nationwide Children's Hospital and the university announced a new investment in the Innovation District last week. The university will increase NIH-funded research by 50%, produce 22,500 STEM graduates over the next 15 years and expand hands-on educational opportunities for students alongside industry partners. Read about the Innovation District partnership.
Addressing inequities in STEM education
Speaking of STEM, please encourage faculty, staff and students to participate in a new seminar series, Our Inclusive Path Forward: Addressing Inequities in STEM Education, that will focus on best practices for recruiting, retaining and graduating a diverse population of STEM students. The first event, on Wednesday, March 3, will feature Norman Fortenberry, executive director of the American Society for Engineering Education. These important conversations will continue through mid-April.
Take advantage of wellness resources
The pandemic has posed challenges for everyone, and it's important that we continue to take care of ourselves and one another. Programming, tips and resources are listed on the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website as well as the Chief Wellness Officer and Human Resources sites. One practice that individuals can take to decrease stress is to follow the Mask On/Mood Up protocol, which promotes three brief, evidence-based tactics when you put on your mask. Learn more about Mask On/Mood Up.
Next COVID-19 town hall
Please register for the next COVID-19 virtual town hall, which will take place a week from today — at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 1. More details about the session will be announced soon.
Other upcoming events
- On Tuesday (Feb. 23) and Thursday (Feb. 25), the next sessions in the Mastering Office 365 series will focus on Teams meetings, OneNote and OneDrive. See the website for times and details.
- At 2:30 p.m. Tuesday (Feb. 23), Guiding Students to Wellness will introduce faculty, staff and graduate and professional students to tangible skills that help students access wellness-related resources on campus, specifically highlighting nutrition/food insecurity, mental health, sexual violence and financial wellness.
- At 11:30 a.m. Friday (Feb. 26), an eLearning Development: Faculty Showcase will highlight College of Medicine faculty who have successfully adapted their teaching in response to the pandemic.
- At noon on Monday (March 1), a workshop on Assessing Instructional Redesign will discuss important considerations for developing an assessment plan that measures the impact and effectiveness of instructional redesign.
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