Fall 2020 Welcome from the Department Head

Emi Lesser Author

08/20/2020 Added

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Department Head David Jones welcomes new and returning students to campus as well as faculty and staff. Visit engineering.unl.edu/bse/covid-19-safety-plan for more information.

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[00:00:04.910]Welcome (claps).
[00:00:06.060]I'm David Jones,
[00:00:07.310]department head in Biological Systems Engineering,
[00:00:10.130]and we're getting ready to welcome you back
[00:00:12.140]to the most unusual fall semester.
[00:00:15.070]One of the things that we want you to know
[00:00:17.050]is that as we look forward to you coming back,
[00:00:20.750]we're looking forward to reengaging with you
[00:00:23.490]and engaging in your experience here,
[00:00:26.480]making sure that you have a good education
[00:00:29.560]and a good experience getting that education.
[00:00:32.810]That educational experience is important to us,
[00:00:36.500]and we know it's important to you.
[00:00:39.010]There are a number of competing issues
[00:00:40.860]that we need to work with and be aware of.
[00:00:45.140]The first and foremost
[00:00:46.250]is that your safety is important to us.
[00:00:49.440]Many of the things that you will see that are in place
[00:00:52.187]and that we're gonna talk about in this video and others
[00:00:55.580]have your safety in mind.
[00:00:58.930]At the same time,
[00:00:59.910]we know coming back to a community like the university
[00:01:03.340]with people coming to us from all over the world
[00:01:06.450]and with our uncertainty around the COVID virus,
[00:01:11.480]that this is not a risk-free activity.
[00:01:15.620]What we are trying to do is to mitigate and minimize risk
[00:01:20.120]as much as possible
[00:01:21.640]while still giving you the best educational experience
[00:01:25.120]that we can.
[00:01:26.410]So, things will be different, but they should be good,
[00:01:29.740]they should be high-quality,
[00:01:32.560]and we're really looking forward to engaging with you.
[00:01:38.020]You have been bombarded with information
[00:01:40.230]from the university, from the colleges,
[00:01:42.280]and now from the department.
[00:01:44.930]I wish that I could sort through it all for you
[00:01:47.120]and say, read this, read that,
[00:01:49.510]but it's on you,
[00:01:50.343]it's your responsibility to sort through this information
[00:01:54.590]and find what's important to you
[00:01:57.100]and what applies to your situation.
[00:01:59.830]The barrage of information is trying to cover
[00:02:02.020]a number of circumstances.
[00:02:04.260]Not all of them will apply to you, but many of them will.
[00:02:08.460]Please stay on top of the communication.
[00:02:13.780]One of the biggest differences when you come on campus
[00:02:16.150]is how we interact with each other.
[00:02:19.110]And of course, we will comply with CDC guidelines,
[00:02:22.390]and that means wearing mask or face shields of some type
[00:02:26.960]and maintaining social distancing.
[00:02:29.610]And you have heard and experienced and practiced
[00:02:32.760]all of these.
[00:02:34.120]We expect you to continue that while you're on campus,
[00:02:38.330]and particularly while you're in Chase Hall.
[00:02:41.430]There is a video that should be coming to you
[00:02:43.780]about how we have arranged things in Chase Hall.
[00:02:48.170]There are traffic patterns that we have established,
[00:02:51.730]doors to enter the building,
[00:02:53.410]doors to exit the building,
[00:02:55.960]some classrooms will have entrance only and exit only,
[00:02:59.920]and you will have the opportunity
[00:03:02.280]to see a video from students
[00:03:04.660]talking to you about what that experience is like.
[00:03:08.680]Again, these changes in the policies and practices
[00:03:13.480]that we've implemented
[00:03:15.070]are in place to mitigate risk
[00:03:18.270]while maintaining a good opportunity for your education.
[00:03:24.710]The thing I also want to emphasize to you
[00:03:26.710]is that circumstances will change.
[00:03:30.430]At least I predict they will.
[00:03:32.050]There's several scenarios.
[00:03:33.850]One, this COVID pandemic will ease,
[00:03:37.360]and therefore we will be able to ease restrictions.
[00:03:40.260]The other possibility
[00:03:42.240]is that this COVID situation will intensify.
[00:03:46.240]And again, that may cause us to adjust
[00:03:49.230]our policies or practices
[00:03:51.570]and our expectations of each other.
[00:03:55.400]The third possibility
[00:03:56.710]is that the pandemic situation stays static,
[00:04:00.350]but we just learn how to better cooperate and collaborate
[00:04:04.230]and do our jobs and you do your studies.
[00:04:08.540]That will also cause us to change.
[00:04:11.470]So, stay on top of that, be in communication with us,
[00:04:15.900]and we will be in communication with you.
[00:04:18.980]Never more than now is good communication important.
[00:04:25.740]I also wanna warn you that each class you take
[00:04:28.310]will likely be different.
[00:04:29.890]Those differences are driven
[00:04:31.330]by the expectations of the class,
[00:04:34.850]it's also driven by the instructional team
[00:04:38.480]that is delivering the class,
[00:04:40.370]and it's also dependent upon
[00:04:43.280]how much lab and hands-on activity is required.
[00:04:46.810]I want you to be aware and informed
[00:04:48.970]and expect that every class will be different.
[00:04:52.330]Please engage with your instructors
[00:04:54.980]to learn what each particular class is going to be like.
[00:05:01.140]You also know that there's been a number of items
[00:05:03.970]coming through from the university and others
[00:05:07.790]about what happens if.
[00:05:10.160]Again, I refer you to those communications sites,
[00:05:13.260]and make sure that you have an opportunity
[00:05:15.480]to inform yourself about what is available to you.
[00:05:19.820]And that includes what happens if you get sick,
[00:05:23.550]what happens if you need help dealing with anxiety,
[00:05:28.100]and that includes both physical and mental health issues.
[00:05:33.930]When we talk about communication,
[00:05:35.600]it's important for us to all realize
[00:05:39.354]that communication is not a single event,
[00:05:43.410]but we need to be in practice of listening to each other
[00:05:46.690]and reaching out to each other.
[00:05:49.060]One of the first lines of defense
[00:05:50.720]is that you can contact me at any time.
[00:05:53.250]Send me an email, david.jones@unl.edu.
[00:05:57.750]Tell me what your concerns are,
[00:05:59.320]tell me about your experience,
[00:06:01.110]because I would love to know more about how you are doing.
[00:06:05.750]Additionally, please feel free to reach out to our staff,
[00:06:09.811]there'll be communication on the screen for you to do that.
[00:06:13.140]And also reach out to Jenna Hefley and Cheryl Pflueger,
[00:06:17.630]then make them part of your team.
[00:06:19.880]In addition to me as department head, Jenna and Cheryl,
[00:06:24.730]also your instructors and your advisors and your classmates.
[00:06:28.930]You need to have a good network while you're on campus
[00:06:32.370]to make sure that you have the support
[00:06:34.730]and resources you need.
[00:06:38.610]We're in a whole new world when we come back to campus,
[00:06:41.040]and I'm really looking forward to seeing us thrive
[00:06:43.650]in this new environment.
[00:06:45.820]But as we learn to thrive,
[00:06:47.270]we're gonna make some mistakes,
[00:06:49.220]and there's gonna be some things that are very challenging,
[00:06:52.120]there's gonna be things that are confusing and unclear,
[00:06:55.470]and we're gonna make missteps and mistakes.
[00:06:58.620]We're gonna have to exercise a lot of patience
[00:07:00.960]with each other, patient with yourself.
[00:07:04.140]Find the best way to be kind to each other
[00:07:07.240]and understanding of each other,
[00:07:09.230]that we're all going through.
[00:07:11.360]Everyone is experiencing this social unrest,
[00:07:16.210]be it be by pandemic and beyond, very differently,
[00:07:19.630]and we need to be good to ourselves and to each other
[00:07:25.110]as we come back to campus.
[00:07:27.680]I'm really looking forward to it.
[00:07:31.311]The beginning of the fall semester
[00:07:33.460]is always an exciting time
[00:07:35.670]and one that always energizes me.
[00:07:38.060]This one is no different.
[00:07:39.740]What's different is we get to find a new way
[00:07:42.482]to interact and learn to learn.
[00:07:46.340]This is gonna be great.
[00:07:47.450]I look forward to seeing you, and you'll be great.

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Fall 2020 Welcome from the Department Head

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