COVID Updates and Native American Heritage Month

 Dear students, faculty, and staff,

As we near Thanksgiving break, we reach another turning point in the semester. In addition, positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise and put unprecedented demands on our healthcare systems. I urge each of you to continue to take measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

COVID-Related Updates

As noted in today’s email from University of Minnesota System President Joan Gabel, learning and research will continue under Governor Walz’s updated COVID restrictions. As planned, our fall semester in-person instruction will conclude on Wednesday, November 25. Classes that were in-person or blended will resume via remote learning on November 30 (unless otherwise approved). Please contact your instructor if you have specific questions about your course. 

With the current COVID precautions, we will implement some further adjustments to our campus operations. 

• We ask all of you to stay at home as much as possible and limit your movement and interactions with others. 
• The library will close and change to mail delivery or pick-up service of materials through the Darland mailroom starting this Saturday. Watch the library website for more information. 
• Housing exterior doors will remain locked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, starting on November 26 and extending through the remainder of the fall semester and winter break. Housing and Residence Life will move back to step one of the Sunrise plan effective Sunday, November 29, with one exception. During the duration of the current pause under the Governor’s executive order, step one will not include indoor recreational facilities.
• RSOP programming and facilities (including the fitness center, gym, and pool) will be closed for use at the end of Friday, tentatively reopening January 4. The Rental Center (for outdoor recreational equipment) will remain open for curbside pickup. We encourage you to stay active and healthy on your own, to include taking advantage of RSOP’s virtual offerings.
• Children's Place on campus remains open and is compliant with the Governor’s current orders. Preschool in the Park (Chester) remains closed (and has been since early fall).
• Tweed Museum of Art is closed and Glensheen Mansion will close starting Saturday.

Also, just a brief reminder that COVID testing is available through your healthcare provider, community testing sites, UMD Health Services (for UMD students, by appointment), and through our mail-in saliva testing program. The mail-in saliva tests must be requested by December 17. 

Honoring Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month, and we acknowledge that the University of Minnesota Duluth is built on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous peoples. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen relations with the tribal nations of Minnesota. Through a collaborative effort and with endorsement by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, we are pleased to share our land acknowledgment. 

I also want to recognize and thank our Native American students, faculty, staff, and community members for their many contributions to the University. We will continue to meet, collaborate, and consult to ensure that we are increasing access to all aspects of higher education for our Native American students, staff, faculty, and community members and fulfilling our mission to serve all people of Minnesota.

Thank you for your continued support of UMD and to all members of our campus community. 

Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor

Invitation to Participate in Post-Election Forum

 

Offices of the EVCAA & VC Student Life

Dear Students, Staff and Faculty: To help us reach across political differences, engage in meaningful dialogue, and move forward collectively, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is hosting forums for all five system campuses. The forums are open to our students, staff and faculty. These With Malice Toward None gatherings are developed by the nonprofit and nonpartisan Braver Angels organization. There will be two stages and opportunities for engagement. In the first stage, groups of people who feel similarly about the presidential election will discuss how they want to engage with those who feel differently. In the second stage, groups of people who hold differing political views about the presidential election will come together to better understand each other, find common ground, and in the words of Braver Angels, “build the capacity of we-the-people to depolarize our politics and forge a new citizenship.”  Please note that these forums are not meant to obscure strong political differences or encourage people to support a particular candidate or party. Instead, they aim to advance dialogue, encourage respect for others, and build connections for civic work across differences. We invite you to register for the initial gathering with people who feel similarly about the presidential election. You can select to join either a large University-hosted gathering or conduct a small self-hosted gathering. Bill Doherty, a professor in the College of Education and Human Development on the Twin Cities campus, will facilitate the gatherings and is a co-founder of Braver Angels. If you are uncertain how they feel about the election, please participate in the group with which you most align.  After participating in the first forum, you can decide whether to sign up for a second gathering with those who feel differently about the election. The initial sessions will be held at the following times: Generally Pleased November 16, 7-8:30 p.m. November 19, 2-3:30 p.m.   Generally Displeased November 17, 3:30-5 p.m. November 19, 7-8:30 p.m. If you are unable to make these forums, but would like to participate in future Braver Angels interactions, please review the Braver Angels Minnesota website. If you have further questions, please contact the Twin Cities Office for Student Affairs at osaum@umn.edu. Sincerely,   Fernado Delgado, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Lisa Erwin, Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Dean of Students

Upcoming Thanksgiving and Semester Break

 Dear Campus Community,  

Two weeks from today is the final day on campus this semester for many of our students, because after Thanksgiving we will conduct most of the remaining fall semester through online and remote learning. 

Over the Thanksgiving break, please remember that community spread is most likely to happen where people gather in groups—both large and small. Protect yourself and others by wearing a mask and staying six feet apart. The Minnesota Department of Health also suggests that two weeks before a gathering, individuals scale back their activities in an effort to help reduce exposure to and spread of COVID-19. 

Positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across Minnesota and stress our healthcare system. Governor Walz announced new restrictions yesterday. These restrictions are a reminder of how serious the pandemic is and what each of us can do to stay safe and slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Work from Home
Consistent with many other large employers and the State of Minnesota, we are now asking staff and faculty who can work from home to continue to do so through at least June 30, 2021. We want to empower you all to make plans that support your families while maintaining a smaller number of people on campus. We will continue the individual office sunrise plans established this summer and fall, and will make adjustments if circumstances change. Please talk to your supervisor if you have questions. The Office of Human Resources also has support resources listed on its Working Remotely webpage. 

Upcoming Semester Break
As we continue working under our sunrise plans and COVID-19 restrictions, it is important to have vacation plans for the holidays. This year, the period from Wednesday, December 23, 2020 until Monday, January 4, 2021, includes 5 campus holidays, 4 weekend days and 3 regular work days. Wherever possible, departments are encouraged to allow staff to have the 12 consecutive days off, by utilizing 3 days of vacation, regardless of whether staff are working from campus or remotely. As in past years, this decision is entirely voluntary for both employees and departments, but strongly encouraged for sustainability reasons. We recognize and are grateful for dedicated employees that do not have this option. 
    
As in recent years, this break provides an opportunity for the campus to reduce energy costs and prove its commitment to sustainability. To reduce energy consumption and our campus carbon footprint, UMD will operate campus buildings at temperatures lower than usual (62 degrees F) with limited ventilation during this Dec 23 - Jan 3 timeframe. If you have an adjustable thermostat in your office, you are asked to turn down the temperature to 62 degrees, but no lower than 60 degrees.
    
Facilities Management intends to provide minimal staffing, dependent on campus needs. Please contact Facilities Management at facmgt@d.umn.edu if you have events planned that will require our custodial (staff and/or door opening) services during this period. In order to meet your needs, please contact them as soon as possible. 
    
Thank you for your continued support of UMD. 
    
Sincerely,

Lendley C. Black
Chancellor 

Sieur du Lhut Creativity Conference - November 18, 2020

 

Please join us for the 2020 Sieur du Lhut Creativity Conference. Dr. Jayshree Seth is a Corporate Scientist at 3M and holds 70 patents. She was appointed 3M’s first ever Chief Science Advocate in 2018 and is using her scientific knowledge, technical expertise and professional experience to advocate for science. She has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, NY and was recently awarded Society of Women Engineers (SWE) highest Achievement Award for “visionary, sustainability-focused contributions to adhesives, release and fastener technologies; for creating, championing, and teaching new methodologies for product and technology development; and for deeply influential STEM advocacy.” She is also the author of The Heart of Science – Engineering Footprints, Fingerprints, & Imprints, the proceeds of which go to a SWE Scholarship for Women of Color in STEM. Dr. Robert Livingston is a social psychologist and one of the nation’s leading experts on the science underlying bias and racism. For two decades, he has served as a diversity consultant to scores of Fortune 500 companies, public-sector agencies, and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining the Harvard Kennedy School in 2015, he held professorships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and  the University of Sussex, where he was the founder and faculty director of Centre for Leadership, Ethics, and Diversity (LEAD). He is the author of the forthcoming book The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations, which will be published by Penguin Random House in February 2021.   Register Here Generous support for this conference provided by the Richard Paul Teske Sieur du Lhut Conference fund with coordination from the Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities subcommittee and my office. We hope that you can join us. Sincerely, Lendley C. Black Chancellor

Election Day Tomorrow

 Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

Tomorrow is Election Day, although it may be more appropriate to say that tomorrow marks the end of the voting season. Here in Minnesota, we have a proud tradition of voting, which Governor Walz, Governor Dayton, Governor Pawlenty, and Governor Ventura recently together affirmed. They stressed that the 2020 election is critically important and I know we all agree.

Over the past few years, the number of U of M students, faculty, and staff who vote by mail or go to an early voting location has more than doubled. Since the time for mailing ballots has passed, you should drop off your ballot at Duluth City Hall. Ballots must be received by 3:00 p.m. on Election Day. You may also drop off a ballot for up to three others at these locations. Please review the requirements carefully if you choose this option.

Minnesota also provides same-day voting registration for those not registered already. In 2016, nearly 12 percent of Minnesota voters registered to vote on Election Day, and over recent preceding presidential cycles (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012), it neared and exceeded 20 percent. Same-day voting registration applies to students with US citizenship as well: UMD students living in Minnesota meet the residency requirements necessary to register and vote.

If you need to register tomorrow, remember to bring a Minnesota ID to your polling location that shows the correct address for the precinct where you are voting. You can also bring an outdated driver’s license or your Ucard along with a utility bill, lease, or banking statement showing your current address to prove residency. If you have already registered, you do not need to bring anything with you to vote.

No matter what you believe or who you support, it’s important for your voice to be heard and to make your vote count. If you have not yet cast your ballot, I urge you to do so tomorrow.

On this eve of our national election and as we transition from fall to winter, I want to thank you for your outstanding work to keep UMD strong. Amidst the many challenges of the past seven and a half months, I appreciate the incredibly hard work you have done to maintain a safe and effective learning environment at UMD with continued focus on excellence in teaching, research, creativity, and public engagement. Our authentic connections throughout UMD in academics, student life, finance, and operations remain a hallmark of a UMD education. As we continue to work together, we are well positioned to surmount the challenges we face and to move UMD forward to new heights.

Be healthy, safe, well – and vote!

Sincerely,


Lendley C. Black
Chancellor

Reminder to Apply for the Sexual Misconduct Hearing Committee

 Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

About 10 days ago, the University community was sent an email asking interested individuals to consider service on the Sexual Misconduct Hearing Committee (SMHC). The SMHC is the University’s systemwide hearing body to consider complaints of sexual misconduct involving students, staff, and faculty in accordance with the University’s Administrative Policy on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Stalking, and Relationship Violence. The SMHC performs a critical function at the University, and we seek thoughtful, deliberative community members to hear these important matters.  

As this committee is systemwide, I am asking for UMD students, staff, and faculty to please consider applying so the SMHC will have adequate representation from our campus.

Please review the SMHC Selection Process and Criteria for more information and apply by Sunday, November 1, 2020, using the SMHC Application. Questions can be directed to smhc@umn.edu.

Thank you.


Lendley C. Black
Chancellor