Dear UWest Community:
Phew, school’s out for the summer!!! I bet I can hear a sigh of relief from many of us! This year has been a very different year… an Interim President, along with several new part time and full time faculty and staff; then, came COVID-19 that hit the world with a vengeance. Many lives were lost, and many more lives were altered. The traditional colleges and universities had to make adjustment in an instant. Moving into remote teaching and learning happened in the speed of lightening. Many students hurried home and faculty changed their way of teaching all at the same time. Nevertheless, we all persevered and made do – and did it well without much glitches. Thank you all for making these transitions as smooth as possible. We thank the faculty members who were able to join us on Thursday to give us feedback via Zoom, survey, and emails about their experiences in the changeover to remote teaching. It was quite moving to hear that the faculty were able to be problem solvers to make this work. Impressive!!!
With the ending of the academic year, we are also bidding farewell to our graduates. We thank them for realizing their dreams and earning their laurels. Congratulations, graduates! We are so thrilled with their achievement and wish you a bright future. In celebration of our graduates, please join us on Saturday, May 30, 2020 around 10 AM (time of our “would be” commencement ceremony), as we honor our graduates with a video tribute on our website. We would like to thank the following folks who have made this possible: Judy Hsu (slide show); Steven Hong and Vanessa (videos); Jeanette Anderson (providing the list and more); and all others who contributed the video messages.
The University will remain open throughout the summer months with limited course offerings while most of our faculty will be off for the summer. We will continue to keep you posted. Please keep an eye on our website for updates and the Friday Letters. We will continue to inform you of any worthy and urgent updates via emails. You can reach us at the University through emails or phone calls. Of course, there is always Zoom!!!
Thank you all very much! We wish the faculty members a great summer! Have a great weekend!
“Be alive to one another’s struggles…Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us – sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed – and set the world on a different path.”
Former President Barack Obama, to the graduates of 2020
Sincerely,
Dr. Chou
Chiung-Sally Chou, Ph.D.
Interim President
University of the West
