Covid case, remote instruction panel, and more

[Bill Maurer]

  Dear social sciences faculty, lecturers, staff and grad students,

  A staff member in Facilities Management tested positive for COVID two
  days ago. The individual was in Social Science buildings on Friday
  June 5. The Campus is identifying any others in the work environment
  with whom the individual may have come into contact, and will notify
  them. Remember, if you exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, coughing,
  shortness of breath), you should contact your primary care physician by
  phone to get instructions for medical attention. For more information
  and resources, please visit UC Irvine's coronavirus information hub at
  UCI.edu/coronavirus or contact the Coronavirus Response Center at (949)
  824-9918 or covid19@uci.edu.

  In other news: Thank you to Seymour Schlosser, Carole Uhlaner, Gustavo
  Oliveira, and Keith Topper for sharing your experiences with transitioning
  to remote instruction in today's panel discussion! It was heartening to
  learn that after overcoming initial anxieties around the technology,
  most of their experiences had to do with creating opportunities for
  student engagement. We have secured the assistance of Janet DiVincenzo
  through Fall quarter (thank you, Janet!) and she will be emailing those
  scheduled to teach in summer and fall about additional workshops and
  other programming as well as to let you know how you can benefit from
  her expertise one-on-one.

  DTEI Fellowships will be announced by the end of the week--if not
  sooner! After they are, we will also be rolling out in the School our
  own version of instructional fellowships to support additional grad
  students who will help assist faculty and lecturers in preparing for
  remote instruction.

  Finally, congratulations to Jenny Fan for receiving the 2020 Dynamic
  Womxn of UCI Award for Social Justice Activism! You can see her receive
  this award here, around minute 2:10!

  You'll be receiving another message from me today about the Dean's
  Office's commitments to address anti-racism and support Black lives. That
  message contains some other  important announcements, too! Stay tuned.

  Be well,

  Bill