Provost Bi-Weekly Message 6/22

Sent: June 22, 2021

From: Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, we will begin to repopulate campus in July. We will use the summer to ramp up for our fall start, when students will return to campus. We expect a large group of first year students and many students who are returning. On-campus will likely be full and we are excited to see some renovations begin on the International House, our signature international learning community on campus. As we begin to adjust to the beginning of fall and going into the semester, we will be assessing our services and support efforts, ensuring that students can connect with faculty and staff easily. We will continue to offer services online and face-to-face but we must also acknowledge that as we shift out of the pandemic that we have to prepare to “meet students where they are.” I want to thank the leadership of the division for their work in getting their repopulation plans submitted. A lot of work has gone into those plans at all levels!

A year ago, I asked my team to work with our colleges to help organize and detangle many of the challenges we have had with our facilities projects. Many were small work orders but also included larger capital projects. So, for the last year, our ABSO team and college representatives have been meeting regularly with FD&O to identify and address them. I am happy to report that in addition to clearing up a large portion of the backlog, we now have an AAD/FDO Liaison team dealing with the issues at the forefront instead of from behind!. There is still a lot of work to do but the foundation is there and this cross division group is working proactively  to improve processes and communications. And, I have a special shout out to Danielle Ortuno! This woman is amazing! Her knowledge and expertise has been invaluable in getting us to this point. My team and I appreciate and value her professionalism, dedication, and commitment to FD&O and to our campus community! Thank you!

As always, I hope that you are staying safe and finding some time with friends and/or family this summer. Remember to unplug from SJSU this summer. It’s important!

All the best,
Vin