Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. talks about MSU's plans "to get back to working and learning together on campus later this year."
Show Notes
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
Like many of you, I am eager to get back to working and learning together on campus later this year. While we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our community, we also realize the need to plan for summer and fall on and off MSU’s campus.
Making decisions now about the future of our university is not an easy task, as the pandemic has shown us. However, with vaccinations continuing to progress, we are optimistic that we can begin to safely transition during the summer and move toward more in-person experiences in the fall — all while continuing to prioritize the health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff.
Fall 2021 semester
I am pleased to share that the university is planning for a more typical fall semester, with 75% of undergraduate classes offered in person. Classes will be offered in multiple scenarios — in person, hybrid and some still online, especially those that would traditionally fill large lecture halls. We expect that routine mitigation testing and other public health policies will continue at some level in the fall, and all of us will need to adhere to these policies and engage in the actions and behaviors that have kept us safe and healthy.
· We will offer a residence hall experience to first-year students and as many other students as possible while still providing a safe living space.
· MSU Athletics is planning for fall events with spectators again, although we’ll be following state requirements and guidelines that will be in place at that time regarding attendance.
· The Wharton Center and Broad Art Museum are planning events this fall.
· Community-based activities will be permitted in alignment with local and state requirements and guidelines.
· Our current university-related travel restrictions will be adapted to location-based guidance.
· As we prepare for more students to be back on campus in the fall, we also will have more employees returning to in-person positions as well. More information will be coming from unit supervisors and leaders in the coming months.
Summer 2021 semester
We’ve learned a lot over the course of the pandemic, and we’ve adapted our safety protocols and policies accordingly to ensure the health, safety and well-being of each of you. This spring, we increased our in-person offerings and nearly doubled the number of students living on campus. As vaccination rates continue to rise and the pandemic recedes, we will take every opportunity to add additional in-person courses to the schedule this summer.
· Most summer classes will be online, which is MSU’s standard practice for summer sessions. Classes for labs and programs that require in-person interaction will continue.
· There will be no large summer camps or events on campus. Nearly all of the conferences usually planned for MSU’s campus have chosen not to hold their events.
· Limited day camps may occur, such as those that are primarily outdoors and are able to adhere to safety protocols.
· We will have students living on campus this summer who are participating in classes, labs or who call MSU their home.
· We are restarting in-person campus tours this month, and those will continue throughout the summer.
As of today, more than 2.4 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Michigan residents — 1.5 million residents have received their first dose, and 880,000 are fully vaccinated. The number of students, faculty and staff who have received the vaccine is another critical factor in our ability to return to a more normal fall semester. I encourage each of you to get the vaccine when it is available to you. The state of Michigan has a vaccine-finder application on its website that you can use when searching for locations to get the vaccine. Starting March 22, Michigan residents 50 and older are eligible to receive it. While the state is not yet prioritizing higher education employees in the 1B “education” group, I continue to advocate for a change in that approach.
All of this is encouraging news for many, but I want to remind you that the university will continue to make important decisions about the fall based on all current science and data about the pandemic and in coordination with our partners at the state and local level. As we have learned from the outset of this pandemic, we must stand ready to adjust to protect our campus and our greater community. We will constantly be reviewing our plans for the fall and keeping you informed along the way.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that this pandemic has taken a toll on our physical and mental well-being, and it has put financial strain on many. The economic impact has yet to be fully realized, but I am encouraged by the fact that we will be able to award approximately $15 million in student financial aid grants from funding made available to us under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which was signed into law in late December 2020. We will share more information on that in the coming weeks.
Conclusion
I am excited at the prospect of coming back together again, and I am greatly looking forward to seeing our vibrant community of students, faculty and staff fully engaged in on-campus life. Optimism is a good feeling, but let’s not let our guard down. Continue to keep yourself safe, follow safety protocols and be empathetic to each other as we move toward the summer and fall semesters.
Sincerely,
Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.
Creators & Guests
What is MSU Today with Russ White?
MSU Today is a lively look at Michigan State University-related people, places, events and attitudes put into focus by Russ White. The show airs Saturdays at 5 P.M. and Sundays at 5 A.M. on 102.3 FM and AM 870 WKAR, and 8 P.M. on AM 760 WJR.
Russ White 0:00
This is MSU. Today I'm Russ white, and I'm with Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr, MD, to discuss topics in his March 5 2021. Letter to Spartan nation, President Stanley, always great to have you on the program. Thank you.
President Stanley 0:16
You're very welcome. And always great to be with us
Russ White 0:18
right now, what's the plan for fall 21.
President Stanley 0:21
So we're really excited, I think our goal is to really plan for a much more typical fall semester, and that we're going to accomplish that I think by having as many as three quarters 75% of our undergraduate classes in person, there'll be multiple scenarios, they could be some will be completely in person, others may be hybrid courses. And there'll be some that are still online, particularly the large lecture hall ones, but we think that's going to make a huge difference. So we're going for what has been a much lower percentage of classes in person to about three quarters of them in person. And we're definitely looking out for our new incoming students and our second year students to make sure they get in person classes, they tend to have a larger number of large classes early on in their time at MSU. So we're going to make sure that they have in person classes as well, because we've heard loud and clear from our students that they want more of that. We also, you know, expect that we're going to work to do residence experience as well. So we're going to offer and expect all our first year students to be living on campus. And we'll take as many upperclass students as we can in the residence halls, while doing things, again, to make sure we're providing a safe living space. And that's important. So the things I think would be the campus will be much more like it's been in the past. But I think traditional policies like mask wearing social distancing are going to be continuing depending on what the, you know, permeation of the vaccine is in our population.
Russ White 1:41
And it sounds like athletics, and Wharton Center and the broad museum are planning to do the same right as best they can return to normal.
President Stanley 1:49
Exactly right. And again, you know, we will follow you know, the state guidelines, so where they're out, or local public health guidelines, but we're pretty confident that we can do follow that safely with spectators again, with limitations on sizes, and with mask wearing and social distancing as needed. But as again, as vaccine penetrates more into the community, we may be able to lead up further on some of these things. The word center I'm excited about, I think people have really been anticipating coming back to that. And broad Art Museum, of course, has been open on a limited basis now, but I look forward to doing more events coming forward. And I think, you know, it's it's amazing the progress we're making on vaccinations,
Russ White 2:27
that is encouraging. And it goes without saying you really want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated? Of course,
President Stanley 2:33
I really did. Yeah, I really do. Russ, I think it is safe. You know, I've talked to my town hall about the research I've done on it, I personally have received the vaccine. And, you know, it's something I would recommend for everybody. The protection rates are high, the adverse events are relatively low, you know, people concern that you can get a, you know, a sore arm or a, you know, a low grade fever, sometimes after the second dose. But these symptoms are all treatable with things like Motrin, and they're very, very different than the life threatening disease that is COVID-19. So it's really a choice between the vaccine and the virus, I would opt for the vaccine every time. Because it really just reduces your risk of having what can be a very serious disease.
Russ White 3:15
I'm looking forward to getting mine ASAP, that's for sure. And, sir, before we get to the fall, then what's sort of the plan for summer of 21,
President Stanley 3:23
I think summer is gonna look a little more like what we've done in the spring. Traditionally, we have most of our courses online in summer, so that's not going to change, we're gonna continue that we may have some students certainly living on campus, or participating in classes, labs, or who call MSU this their home, so they'll remain living on campus. And there will be some programs maybe for students that, you know, have a chance to come to campus ahead of their matriculation. So we may have some programs like that going. And we definitely will read be restarting in person tours, again, socially distancing, wearing masks, but giving and giving us an opportunity to really get on campus and see what campus is like for those who started as well. The larger events that we've had in campus in the past some of the summer camps, boy scout events, and so on, those organizations have canceled their programs already. So so there's there's not those will be taking place on campus. So it'll still be a little more quiet on the summer than it's been. But we will I think be doing a lot of preparation for the fall will be different.
Russ White 4:24
And while the plans for false are very encouraging for all of us, I think you just want to let people know, this could change. We're going to follow all the health guidelines and do what's appropriate, always Russ, I
President Stanley 4:35
think, you know, that's been a hallmark of what we've been trying to do as a university and I think in other universities, as well as it's really, you know, put on the front and people's safety. And that's not just the safety, obviously, of our students, faculty and staff, we think about the safety of the community as well. We're part of this region, we have to behave responsibly and be effective, we expect others to behave as rapidly as well. So we will follow those rules. We'll be paying attention to things like the variants and so on. But, but overall, again, I think with this, you know, continued push in vaccine in the community, I think we're in a great position. And as you pointed out, Russ, it's about getting people to accept the vaccine. And the key thing that will help us have as close to as normal fall semesters or launch is the number of people who are vaccinated and the percentage of vaccine in the population. So so that's going to be the most important thing. So I encourage you, as far as when you're you when your turn comes, you know, get in line and get vaccinated, because it's the best thing you can do for you, and those around you.
Russ White 5:34
And is your hope that MSU was a community could be vaccinated? Is that a possibility that I think you've asked the state about,
President Stanley 5:41
I've been a nuisance, I would say state about asking them to make Michigan State a recipient of vaccine. So right now, as you know, we're partnering very successfully within them County, particularly using the pavilion as a large scale vaccination center. And I think we were given vaccine for Michigan State to distribute, we can definitely accelerate the vaccination of our faculty and staff and then students, and I would love to have students have a chance to get vaccinated before they went home for the summer. I think that would be great. So so I would love vaccine. And if we had it, we would work very hard. And I've tasked the leaders of the university to think about the logistics we would do if we were given an doses of vaccine to vaccinate the community, how we distributed them and get them out, and so that we're working on that. But I would love to have the state make us a provider of vaccine
Russ White 6:28
all encouraging news before I let you go, sir, just anything else on the horizon this semester, you'd like to highlight for Spartans or things you're thinking about?
President Stanley 6:35
You know, I think the other thing is just that, you know, travel will restrictions will be a little more flexible with that, we'll be adapting them to, you know, location based guidelines. So if you're trying to travel someplace, you know, understanding what the guidelines will be there, we're going to try and do more community based activities, again, in alignment with local and state guidelines. So that may be helpful for from our extension or four h programs to be able to do more there. So and I think, you know, we'll have more employees returning to inperson positions, as we're welcoming more students back those who have jobs and require them to have contact with students will be back on campus as well. And again, we want to make sure and do everything we can to help facilitate their vaccination as they come back.
Russ White 7:17
So president Stanley, just summarize for us what you hope the key takeaways from your March 5 letter are for Spartan nation
President Stanley 7:23
that we're working really hard to get closer to a fall we definitely will have more in person classes than we had in the spring and we're shooting for three quarters of those classes to be in person we're shooting to return to near full occupancy of our dormitories but with space available as we'll need it if we need to have some isolation protocols. And we're we're still going to be doing a number of things we're doing right now, social distancing, and mass wearing will probably still be a part particularly of the early fall return. Well, that's
Russ White 7:50
Michigan State University President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr, MD, telling me more about his letter to the Spartan community on March 5 of 21. And you can always keep up with the president at president that msu.edu and President Stanley's on Instagram to at MSU, Pres. Stanley, follow along there. So thank you again, sir.
President Stanley 8:13
Thank you, Russ. Again, always a pleasure. And thank you for helping me get the message out.
Russ White 8:16
And I'm Russ white, this is MSU today
Transcribed by https://otter.ai