A Letter from Dr. Karen Riley
Good morning colleagues,
I hope this note finds you well as we inch closer to the half-way point of the semester. The mornings are starting to get chilly — it seems Fall has arrived!
There is lots of good information in this edition of the Provost's Digest — I know we are all busy, but I hope you will take the time to read about the good work that is happening within Academic Affairs.
Teaching is at the heart of a transformative Regis education and we want to continue to invest in our faculty and to promote a continual improvement approach. I want to make sure all of our faculty are aware of the Regis Teaching Excellence Network, an initiative dedicated to achieving inclusive excellence in teaching and learning at Regis University. It seeks to connect members of the Regis teaching and learning community with one another to exchange ideas, questions, practices and innovations. If you haven't already, I hope you will take a look.
You may be aware that the Board of Trustees met last week, and Bob Engel, our Board Chair, asked me to express gratitude to the members of the University Budget Committee for their good work. He further asked that I thank all of our Regis faculty and staff for their dedication and hard work day-in and day-out.
A few COVID related items I want to be sure you are aware of:
It is crucial that we all continue to wear masks indoors, and that we enforce mask-wearing with our students. Masks are helping keep the number of campus cases low. Continued vigilance will help keep our community safe, healthy, and thriving. As a bonus, masks also offer us some extra protection as flu season ramps up.
Some questions have also come up about classroom ventilation related to COVID. The HVAC systems we have in our classrooms, labs and conference rooms are on all force air return systems. The return air is mixed with fresh economized air before it is resupplied to the rooms. We have 100% air exchange 11 to 13 cycles a day. To keep these systems working effectively and efficiently, it is important that we not open the windows or keep the doors open.
Rapid COVID tests for use at home are now available by request for those working in education. It seems to be a multi-step process, but you can start the process here. This is another great way to help keep our community safe.
The President's Response Team will be putting out an update soon about the percentages of students, faculty and staff that are fully vaccinated. Keep an eye out for that.
Lastly, I want to be sure you are aware of the upcoming grant application deadline:
The University Research and Scholarship Council (URSC) invites applications for Faculty Research and Scholarship Grants (up to $5000) and Student Research and Scholarship Grants (up to $500). Applications for research and scholarship to be conducted during AY 2021-2022 are due by October 15, 2021. Please note that the FRSG and SRSG applications have been revised. Completed applications must be submitted online at cognitoforms.com/CenterForScholarshipAndResearchEngagement/URSCApplicationPortal.
URSC also offers Student Travel Grants (STGs) of up to $500. Applications for STGs may be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a rolling basis. The STG application can also be found at the link above. If you have any questions about these grant programs, please email croberts008@regis.edu or mbruhn@regis.edu.
Thank you for continued care for our students and one another. A special thank you to those who attended one of our town hall meetings. I appreciated the candor as well as the suggestions. We are taking these items to heart and are working on addressing your concerns. I continue to be grateful to come to Regis each day and be a part of this wonderful community. The next Provost's Digest will include an opportunity to provide more formal feedback for my office. In the meantime, please send your feedback or suggestions to: provost@regis.edu.
Sincerely,
Dr. Karen Riley
Provost