Dean Kelley's Welcome
But the resiliency of all parties – faculty, staff and students – in Gaylord and at OU is nothing short of impressive.
I won’t bury the lede: The fall 2020 semester at Gaylord College is unlike any other as we and the rest of the Norman campus try to navigate the pandemic with as little disruption as possible.
It’s taken much adjustment and hard work by many people. But we made it to Thanksgiving with a schedule that gave a majority of students a majority of their classes in person.
The Gaylord faculty and adjunct instructors have done yeoman work, particularly when teaching classes in person while trying via Zoom to accommodate quarantining students who are absent. (And delivering a lecture through a mask.) I spoke to a class trying to balance all of this and came away with even more appreciation of what my colleagues are doing this fall.
And there are bright spots too, starting with additions to our graduate program. This fall we welcomed eight first-year students into our doctoral cohort and all are impressive. Each of them will teach for us at some point during their three or four years in Gaylord. As graduate director Peter Gade points out, these students are essential to the college’s mission.
Meantime, we launched an online master’s degree in strategic communication and digital strategy, which will commence with its first class in January 2021. Dr. Gade and fellow faculty member Debbie Yount worked tirelessly for several months to develop a curriculum aimed at working professionals who can complete the degree in as little as 19 months. It’s being marketed by a Denver-based firm that has helped grow other programs across campus for OU Online. (Interested? Here’s the link: https://www.ou.edu/online/degrees-and-certificates/strat-comm)
This is exciting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is approval to add two faculty members who can help ensure the online master’s is successful.
Meanwhile, clubs and organizations in the college have held their meetings of the semester via Zoom. I’ve sat in on a number of them, and attendance and enthusiasm seem as good as if they were meeting inside Gaylord Hall.
At the same time, our academic advising team is responding well to students’ needs. The advisers developed a plan in which they would rotate work schedules, for safety reasons, with the ability to meet students either in person or via Zoom. And the process gears up again soon, for advising for the spring semester.
But more adjustment will be needed because of COVID-19. We at OU will revert to online classes only after Thanksgiving for the rest of the semester. The spring semester begins Jan. 25, a week later than planned, with spring break scrapped. No doubt other challenges loom. But the resiliency of all parties – faculty, staff and students – in Gaylord and at OU is nothing short of impressive. And inspiring as well.