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Dear AU Community,聽
In my free moments between chasing聽Zuzu聽with the kids and preparing for a great fall semester, I鈥檝e been thinking about pickle ball. Now, you are probably wondering why I am starting my welcome back message聽with pickle ball. Well,聽during the聽summer, I learned to play聽this great sport. But the more I played, the more I realized it was not so much learning something new.听It was actually returning聽to two things that I聽already聽know and enjoy,聽just聽in a different way.听Pickle ball combines tennis and ping pong, which are both sports I had played before. I was happy to have a way of doing something that was both familiar and new. And that is what I think we are doing as we start our return to campus, combining so much of what we knew before the pandemic with new and exciting opportunities for the future.听聽
Today marks an important step聽for our community. Our staff are beginning the new hybrid work environment. While many of our team members have been on campus for some time supporting our students and maintaining critical services, this week聽brings the聽return of our聽full聽workforce.听I want to thank our teams again for their tremendous work throughout the pandemic and their commitment as we begin this new era of working at AU.听
Our Human Resources team has done an amazing job聽seeking input and聽developing the聽framework for the new hybrid work environment. Now, it is up to all of us to put it into practice. This will be a transition and there will be questions and adjustments along the way.听We know that everyone will continue to be agile as we adapt to this new way of working that is rooted in trying to learn positive lessons from the last 18 months, continue to navigate the impacts of COVID, and practice patience and grace with each聽other聽as we readjust to interacting in person again.听We also know that the health and safety of our community is our priority, and one of the first things you can do when coming back to campus is complete the required聽聽form and make sure you have reviewed the聽Health and Safety Guide.听
Importantly,聽our聽hybrid聽working聽approach聽responds to requests from our people for greater flexibility in how they work while聽ensuring聽our mission and student engagement continue at the highest quality聽through robust and much needed in-person interactions and collaborations.听Some聽of the things we聽instinctively knew before COVID and certainly missed during the difficult days of the pandemic were the creativity, spontaneity, and community building that come from working together in person. We certainly learned that we聽could聽do many of those things through other means and that is why I am confident our hybrid approach will work well, because we are combining the strong elements of each way of working. Our plan starts with safety and then builds on the lessons聽of the past year聽and the best of both modalities to create a new and effective way of working at AU.听I am looking forward to seeing you on campus and having the chance to interact with the AU community in聽person again.听
In addition to the workforce聽return,聽there are so many聽exciting聽things happening on campus this week. We will begin聽student Move-In聽and it will be great to see so many students聽in our residence halls.听Thank you to all the volunteers who are helping with this important and fun tradition.听If you want to be part of the action, there is聽聽On Thursday, August 19, the聽聽kicks off fall competition with a game against William & Mary鈥o Eagles!聽I also want to say good luck to our Washington College of Law聽(WCL)聽students, faculty, and staff as聽their classes聽start聽on August 20聽and聽our new聽, who is beginning his first semester!聽Roger joins聽闯别别丑测耻苍听顿补惫颈蝉聽(University Library) and聽Sam Fulwood聽(School of Communication) as new deans this year聽and they are all聽fantastic聽additions to our community.听
When you get to campus, I hope you鈥檒l enjoy the many聽examples聽of our聽Challenge Accepted聽narrative, from new AU Shuttles to inspiring messages on walkways. To our faculty and staff, be on the lookout聽for聽a Challenge Accepted item in your offices in the coming days, so you can showcase our story and your purpose. And as all AU changemakers know鈥Change Can鈥檛 Wait! We have many great opportunities with our comprehensive fundraising campaign this fall, and I look forward to聽working with聽you聽and our聽friends, supporters, and community members near and far聽to聽help us build the future of our student experience, research, and local engagement.听
As the new semester opens, we will be resuming our regular聽bi-weekly messages聽to keep you updated on our activities and any COVID-related developments. Look for my next message on August聽30聽with the start of undergraduate and graduate classes. Time sensitive updates or changes will continue to be communicated whenever聽necessary. You can also check the聽COVID-19 Resources webpage聽for the latest information,聽including聽an聽easy-to-use聽Health and Safety聽Summary document, the recording of the聽,聽our updated聽protocol for personal protective equipment (PPE),听补苍诲听FAQs.听Additionally, Acting Provost Starr sent聽important guidance to the faculty聽regarding our academic preparations and procedures to support our classroom learning environments聽and we just unveiled聽补诲诲颈迟颈辞苍补濒听别惫别苍迟听驳耻颈诲补苍肠别聽to help plan and implement safe and productive gatherings.听Staying up to date on our health and safety measures and following the protocols is a critical element of our community of care, where we all have a responsibility for supporting ourselves,聽each other, and the safety of our entire community.听
I hope you are excited about the fall semester and the opportunities to be together again on our beautiful campus. While we must remain vigilant聽in our health and safety measures, I know this will be a memorable, fun,听补苍诲听engaging聽fall鈥nd maybe we聽will聽find time for a game of pickle ball!聽
Be safe and be well.听
厂测濒惫颈补听