June 5, 2020  |  A Message to Academic Affairs

Sent on behalf of Dr. Winebrake

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I haven’t had a chance to officially introduce myself, but I’m Jamie Winebrake, incoming Provost and VC for Academic Affairs. I hope everyone is healthy and well during these difficult times. I wanted to offer you an update regarding my transition into the Provost role, which officially starts on July 1st. 

First, I want to thank everyone for all their hard work over the past few months. The challenges we have faced and continue to face as members of an institute of higher education have been significant. I know faculty and staff at UNCW have gone above and beyond the call to ensure academic continuity for our students, and I know this was a heavy lift. So, thank you for all you have done and continue to do to support our students and our community!

Second, I want you to know that many, many folks have been working to ensure a safe and successful opening of campus for Fall 2020. Over the past two months, Dean Charlie Hardy ably led the Fall 2020 Reopening Task Force and its associated eight working groups. The Task Force submitted its report to the Chancellor last week. I am now working with the deans and others in the Provost’s Office to lay out a plan for further consideration and implementation of the related action items, many of which fall to Academic Affairs. Some are more urgent than others, and now that we have the calendar set, we are going to immediately turn our attention to course scheduling and course delivery parameters. (I know many of you have been working hard on this already. As an aside, my office will be sending a communication on Friday aimed at collecting input from faculty related to their ability to teach face-to-face this fall.)  I also expect to have a communication on Monday that provides a first glimpse of a larger implementation process for the Task Force action items that Academic Affairs “owns.”

Third, I want to thank everyone who has been so supportive and kind with respect to my transition to UNCW. I can tell from all the people with whom I have interacted that UNCW is a special place where collegiality, diversity, and inclusion are highly valued. Indeed, these are important community values — especially given what we are currently seeing throughout the country — and they are ones that I also hold especially dear.

Please stay well! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns — my UNCW email is now active at winebrakej@uncw.edu. I will be sure to follow up with additional communications in the coming weeks as we gear up for the fall.

Best regards,

Jamie

James J. Winebrake, Ph.D.
Incoming Provost and VC Academic Affairs
UNC Wilmington