Campus family,
I appreciate all the great questions and feedback we received from Dr. Rose’s Facebook Live Q&A last night. We hope to continue to have regular online Q&A sessions over the next several weeks as we work together to finish the semester online.
Finals and graduation
The academic leadership has decided to keep finals week and graduation on their originally scheduled dates. This means the semester will be one week shorter than originally planned, and each professor and program will be determining how best to make up for the missed class time.
We are not sure what graduation will look like yet because it is hard to predict how COVID-19 will continue to impact the country. We may be able to proceed as we usually do, or events may look a bit different this year. Either way, we are committed to celebrating the hard work of the Class of 2020 on May 8-10.
Finishing the semester
As we are still working through the process of setting up online coursework for the rest of the semester, Kim Hazelton, our Director or Records, had this to say to reassure you that you will be able to complete your academic requirements:
We understand that there is much uncertainty about how you are going to be completing your classes, particularly those that don’t lend themselves well to online formats. The extended spring break will not only be used to work through technical issues related to online delivery, but to determine other solutions as well. Our focus is your success. For example, you don’t need to be concerned that you won’t graduate this year because you couldn’t attend choir for the entire term. The Records team will be working closely with your advisors and instructors to ensure that a plan is in place for you to be able to complete all the necessary requirements and stay on track for graduation. We’ll keep you updated. Enjoy the break!
ACA students coming home
Adventist Colleges Abroad has decided to close the ACA program for the semester and send all students back to the United States. That means our seven remaining ACA students—all studying in France or Argentina—will be returning home as soon as possible.
I know many of you have decisions to make about how to finish out the year. You are in my prayers. We will continue to work on plans that will enable you to complete the semester successfully. We'll update you as we know more.
Enjoy your much-deserved break,
Vinita Sauder
President, Union College
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