May 1, 2020
Dear Reed community,
Thank you to the entire community for your resilience and perseverance this semester as we made enormous adjustments to the way we do our work at the college. I am impressed, but not surprised, that you have continued to learn, teach, and support the educational program and each other during these recent weeks. Your commitment inspires my confidence, even in the midst of many unknown elements in the future, that the college will open in the fall and present a compelling educational program. You have reminded me once again of the importance of the collective work we do of training in rigorous methodologies and techniques for understanding and addressing pressing human problems—whether a pandemic or the tough economic consequences of this disease.
We operate in times of great uncertainty. As you know, in-person instruction is now prohibited by order of Oregon Governor Kate Brown through June 13. While we are in active conversations with the state, together with other Oregon higher-education institutions, we do not know when these restrictions will be lifted. The governor has adopted Dr. Anthony Fauci’s statement as a guideline: “You don’t make the timeline. The virus makes the timeline.”
In light of unpredictable variables, I write today to announce a set of working groups that I have assembled to complete assessments—which will include community input—and propose plans for the college’s fall semester. The principal charge to all groups is to make recommendations on how we will present the academic program next year. While much has changed in the world over the last two months, Reed’s educational work has and will continue to guide our response going forward. In particular, we all aspire to offer a program under virtually any conditions that will allow our students to make expected progress in their academic journeys.
To be clear, it is my hope and plan to offer our program on campus in the fall. And we will do so in ways that respond to regulations in place as well as honor our ongoing efforts to support our community’s health and safety.
We will announce our plans for the fall by June 30. While we wish for planning purposes that we could make a determination sooner, this measured approach is necessary to conduct thorough assessments, allow adequate time for the situation to progress, and gather necessary community input.
Below I have outlined the working groups.
Group I: Academic Planning
Co-chairs
Kathy Oleson, Professor of Psychology & Dean of the Faculty Elect
Suzy Renn, Professor of Biology
Membership
Mark Burford, Associate Professor of Music
Elizabeth Drumm, John B. and Elizabeth Yeon Professor of Spanish & Humanities
Trina Marmarelli, Director of Instructional Technology Services
Julie Maxfield, Associate Dean, Academic Life
Kyle Ormsby, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Meg Scharle, Professor of Philosophy
Kjersten Whittington, Associate Professor of Sociology
Miles Woo ’22
Group II: Student Life
Chair
Cindy Anderson, Interim Dean of Students
Membership
Carrie Baldwin-Sayre, Associate Dean of Students for Health & Wellbeing
Ana Quintana Bernal ’23
Mary James, Dean for Institutional Diversity & A.A. Knowlton Professor of Physics
Britt Hoover, Assistant Dean, Student Support
Jon Rork, Professor of Economics
Amy Schuckman, Associate Dean for Student & Campus Life
Tieran Sweeney-Bender ’21
Matt Talavera, General Manager, Food Services
Anna Volz ’20
Kate Walford, Student Work Coordinator
Group III: College Preparedness and Response
Chair
Hugh Porter, Vice President for College Relations
Membership
Gary Granger, Director of Community Safety
Mandy Heaton, Executive Director of Communications & Public Affairs
Chris Koski, Associate Professor of Political Science & Environmental Studies
Margot Minardi, Associate Professor of History & Humanities
Marty Ringle, Chief Information Officer
Timmie Rochon, Medical Services Director
April Sams, Director of Risk Management and Environmental Health and Safety
Steve Yeadon, Director of Facilities Operations
Group IV: Financial Planning
Chair
Lorraine Arvin, Vice President and Treasurer
Membership
Kris Anderson, Professor of Psychology
Jan Miezskowski, Professor of German & Humanities
Milyon Trulove, Vice President and Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
Rob Tust, Associate Treasurer and Controller
Michelle Valinitis, Director of Human Resources
Each group will make preliminary recommendations to me for review by June 8, with final recommendations due June 15. Members in each group will be eager to hear from you, and they will create opportunities for input through surveys and other methods.
Should you have questions, the coronavirusquestions@reed.edu email address will continue to be monitored as the working groups make their recommendations.
I wish each of you well in your endeavors and in addressing challenges that you face during this pandemic. Greeting you in person when that is again possible is something I am very much looking forward to.
All my best,
Audrey
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Audrey Bilger
President