Campus update for March 30, 2020

March 30, 2020

Dear students,

Distance learning Day 1! The faculty and others are optimistic about our success at this new way of doing things. Get some encouragement (and suffer some bad puns) in these video snippets from them.

And shout-out to our seniors on the front page of today's paper: "Seniors are still reckoning with what’s happening, and while their lives might not be as grandiose and celebratory as they imagined they would be right now, there are profound thoughts and feelings to be had during a historic moment."

Today's updates:

• Senior Patti Grod, a contributor to Blogustana, offers "5 things you can still do on (or off) campus to stay active."

• We have begun adding virtual events to the campus calendar on the Current Students and Faculty and Staff pages. Submit your event or meetup. Info on virtual Campus Rec workouts and events to come.

• We're launching Viking Connections, a new way to bring you together with our accomplished alumni.

There is a long list of alumni "Connectors" who want to share their advice with you. Ask them about careers, industries, employment trends and their organizations. They are waiting for you to reach out as you start looking for a job or consider graduate school.

• Augie NAMI will host a peer support video chat today at 6 p.m.  via Google Meet. Sign in with your school email account or dial in at +1 601-963-1115 (then the PIN: ‪274 563 621#). NAMI will host a video chat every Monday at 6 p.m. the rest of the semester.

• ITS reminds us about resources and using Helpdesk.

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Today's video: Tiny Tours at the library and Gerber Center. Tiny Tours is an outreach to prospective students who can't visit us now.

Today's recipe: Garlic Alfredo Pizza

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It's quiet but there's also a buzz

Today we hear from Tom Phillis, Augustana police chief 

I have been on campus every day now while the majority of people are working from home. It's hard to describe what it's like. There is a serenity because it is calm, but there is also a sense of depression. Every day feels like the previous when there is no campus activity.

But I know there is also a buzz in the air. I know people are working from home, on video and conference calls. They must have a feeling of uneasiness working in a manner they've not worked in for an extended period of time. Juggling their work, their kids, many times their children's schoolwork or a partner working from home as well.

Home offices have sprung up like the flowers we so desperately want to see right now. People are finding answers to questions never posed to them before in a manner they are not accustomed to...

And through it all this has been a perfect example of why most of us feel Augustana is different. It is because of the people who work here.

Our buildings are empty, our students are gone, and the campus is vacant, but the people of Augustana are working, and identifying needs, and figuring out problems, and finding a way to complete our mission: to change the lives of young people so they can change the world. And to not only move forward with our educational mission but to do so in a meaningful, caring, compassionate, and student-centered manner.

I trust we will figure out, and be better for it because of the people we are. It truly does make us different.

  Please send comments, questions or suggestions to covid19info@augustana.edu.