May 15, 2020

Dear Reed community,

On May 1, I let you know that the college has created four working groups to plan for the academic program next fall. Today, I write to report that the groups are meeting and have already made progress in reviewing and assessing the range of approaches that we could take in the fall. The Academic Planning Group is in the process of organizing focus groups for faculty and has discussed outreach to students with members of the Student Committee on Academic Policy and Planning. Staff input will be sought as well. Together, the groups are working on a combined survey of questions to be addressed by all of us before the end of this month.

At this very early stage of planning, there is little to report beyond a shared determination to do the best job possible in these circumstances of presenting the academic program and imagining new structures for the personal interactions that we all treasure in our work at Reed. The state of Oregon has also turned its attention to considering the challenges this pandemic poses to the nearly 100 higher education institutions in the state. I am gratified to see that these guidelines contemplate allowing a range of approaches that reflect the diversity of these institutions, and I am optimistic that the wide range of plans that we are considering all fall within these draft guidelines.

Thank you to the members of the working groups for your efforts and to all of you for your guidance as we move forward in our planning.

I will continue to provide you with regular updates. In the meantime, I hope you are able to join me in toasting our seniors on Monday.

All my best,
Audrey

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Audrey Bilger
President