re-org, re-opening, resilience, and - remembering how to drive!

[Bill Maurer]

    Dear all,

    I just returned from a very brief visit to campus, where I was dressed
    up in my regalia to do some video shoots for commencement (all very safe
    and socially distant with Heather and Luis.). I remember how to drive! I
    hadn't been in a car since March 17 or 18. I found my sunglasses! (They
    were in the glove compartment of the car this whole time). And wow,
    there is an invention called "radio" and it is kind of amazing. We're all
    experiencing in our different ways various forms of spatial and temporal
    disintegration (a term Rubén Rumbaut taught me this morning). The
    technologies we are using to maintain connection and get our work done
    can help, but can disorient, too, as this BBC story discusses. So: the
    car was a nice change of pace. And my eyes got to focus on the distant
    horizon for the first time in a while, too.
    
    Speaking of horizons: We announced a reorganization of the School's
    staffing structure this morning to the staff and faculty. We're clustering
    some departments' support to better serve them, and moving a few people
    around to better harness everyone's unique skills, while providing
    more opportunities for career development, during the current pandemic
    context and beyond. Thank you again to all the staff for your commitment
    and flexibility.
    
    Many will have seen today's column in the New York Times by the President
    of Brown University on re-opening college campuses in the Fall. UC
    Irvine's plans and the rationale behind them resonate with President
    Paxson's. Our students are resilient, but creating a new kind of normalcy
    on campus and off is going to be essential to ensuring their success in
    their studies and in their challenges they will face in the months and
    years ahead.
    
    In a conversation this morning with OC United Way, I was reminded again
    that our resilience matters, too. My own research shop had been planning
    a "train the trainers" event in July, to give a boost to OC United Way's
    network of financial education nonprofit staff. We had a call today
    just to check to see if our partners still wanted to go ahead with the
    plans--albeit almost certainly in a virtual format. And the answer was a
    passionate yes: providing tools to be "resilient in the role of serving
    others," my colleague told me, is especially important now.
    
    We'll keep trying to provide those tools--and I'll keep you updated
    through this journey!
    
    Stay safe,
    
    Bill
    
    Peter the Anteater, retrieved from SBSG