Dean Kelley's Welcome
Still, we have much good news at Gaylord College and OU.
As we see every day, the pandemic has interrupted all facets of American life, and higher education hardly is immune. We at Gaylord College and OU have spent considerable time preparing as best we can for reopening the Norman campus for the fall semester, which begins Aug. 24.
To be able to do so successfully has taken much more preparation than in any recent summer. The classroom schedule has been overhauled to convert large classes, where social distancing is impossible, to online instruction while trying to ensure smaller classes can be taught in person. The goal is to try to give most students a majority of classes in front of an instructor.
The university is spending several million dollars in a “Clean and Green” campaign, to vigorously sanitize the Norman campus and provide PPE (personal protective equipment) to faculty, staff and students. Masks will be required of everyone on campus, including students.
All of this will follow a spring semester that was abruptly interrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, with a sudden shift to online classes after spring break. Summer classes are online as well.
So … It’s been quite a ride for us in 2020. And it’s barely half over.
Still, we have much good news at Gaylord College and OU. Our college faculty quickly converted their classes to online in mid-March. Our academic advising team has been busy meeting remotely with students about the fall semester, and has been making changes to accommodate social-distancing restraints. IT director Buddy Wiedemann is on Zoom calls all day long, with top IT directors on campus as well as assisting faculty and staff. Development director Lee Reynolds is working with the OU Foundation, trying to help students in dire straits because their family finances took a hit.
These efforts are paying off. OU’s enrollment is expected to remain relatively steady come fall, with an incoming freshmen class that may be one of the largest in history. Retention of other undergraduates is similar to that of a year ago.
A comprehensive university such as OU always has many challenges. Add the uncertainty brought by the pandemic and subsequent financial fallout, and it can feel overwhelming. But I am more optimistic about OU than at any time since becoming dean in 2015. We have the right leadership in place, a well-designed strategic plan and support from the top of state government to ensure the university not only survives the challenges of today but thrives from the opportunities of tomorrow.
Ed Kelley, Dean
Class of 1975