Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Dear Campus Community:

Welcome back! I hope you had a relaxing and reenergizing spring break, and that you have settled back in as we proceed toward the end of another semester! I wanted to share some updates with you in terms of campus repairs and construction, campus climate, and an opportunity for you to share your feedback on our institutional response to Hurricane Florence.

Campus Repairs and Construction

• Our facilities team worked through the break on Hurricane Florence-related repairs across campus, including painting and roofing.
• Next month, we will begin site preparation for the next set of modular lab units, to account for the teaching laboratories lost in Dobo Hall and needed for the 2019-20 academic year.  These will be located adjacent to, but not on, parking Lot R2 and Chancellor’s Walk (across from Cameron Hall, next to Chancellor’s Walk). We will also begin site preparation for the Applied Research Learning Facility, which will be a permanent building ready for use in early 2020.  It will be located adjacent to, but not on, parking Lot Q (between the Cultural Arts Building and Friday Hall).
• Construction has concluded on the Administrative Annex, and staff moves were completed this week. I want to thank everyone who contributed to the planning and construction of this building, as well as the teams who have moved in, for their patience and enthusiasm about their new space! The parking lot serving the Administrative Annex, located across from the building on MacMillan Avenue, is now complete, and an additional parking lot is under construction for completion in April, at the intersection of Hurst Drive, Hamilton Drive, and MacMillan Avenue. 
• The Student Housing Village construction remains in full swing. Two buildings are scheduled for completion in the fall of 2020 and the two remaining buildings will be completed for the fall of 2021. 
• You can always check the status or impacts of campus construction by visiting this site.

Campus Climate
The Campus Climate Committee has been working hard to further enhance our environment of diversity and inclusion. They are working with SGA and Student Ambassadors on DIVE IN week activities, to include thought-provoking forums, a variety of music and food, a reaffirmation of the Seahawk Respect Compact, and a co-sponsored workshop with CTE on Mindfulness and Diversity and Inclusion. Keep an eye on the SGA web page for more info on DIVE IN week! The Campus Climate committee is also busy creating learning module for employees concerning the First Amendment, evaluating and making resource websites more user-friendly, promoting cultural events across campus, and evaluating a safety app to recommend for possible campus use. You can find the new Campus Climate webpage here. Many thanks to Dr. Kent Guion, Liz Grimes, and Bradley Ballou for leading this effort.
 
Hurricane Florence Feedback
As a means of continuing to enhance our Emergency Operations Plan, the university has initiated an “after-action review” of our response to Hurricane Florence. Hagerty Consulting, an independent firm, will assess the effectiveness of our response and recovery from the storm to ensure we are as prepared as possible for future storms. This will occur via interviews with various constituents on campus (the Emergency Planning Group and others directly involved in the response and recovery) as well as via a survey targeting faculty and staff and a wide sampling of students. Please keep an eye out for an email from Hagerty Consulting (it will be from an “@hagertyconsulting.com” address). Allow me this opportunity to acknowledge that just as our campus continues to recover, I know many of you continue to recover personally as well. Please do let your colleagues and friends on campus know if there is any way we can offer you our support.

It has been an interesting academic year – challenging,rewarding and unlike any we have ever experienced – but one that has allowed us all to illustrate the values of Seahawk strength and unity, and build upon an already stellar path. I want to thank you all, our incredibly dedicated staff, our world-class faculty, and our resilient and motivated students, for once again making me proud of who we are as a campus and as a community. Go Seahawks!
 
Sincerely,
Jose V. Sartarelli
Chancellor