Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Dear Members of the Wilkes Community,
We are carefully following the updates about the spread of COVID-19 as new cases are reported in Pennsylvania. I want to assure you that we have been working around the clock to consider how this will impact our campus community. While there are no confirmed cases at Wilkes University at this time, we continue to develop plans for every scenario.
Though much is unknown, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need to consider different modes of teaching, learning and working as we deal with this complex public health issue. This is particularly important should the campus need to suspend operations for an extended period of time. These are among the things we are considering:
- Earlier today we made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s career and internship fair. This decision was made out of an abundance of caution to reduce the number of visitors coming to campus. We are reviewing all large-group gatherings that attract visitors from outside of campus. We will make decisions about these events in the days to come.
- We continue to prepare for the possibility of conducting coursework online. The Office of Technology for Teaching and Learning has created a variety of resources for faculty and will offer assistance for those who request it. In addition, we continue to evaluate how we can best support our students should we need to conduct courses in this format.
- Our human resources office is developing a variety of contingency plans should staff members be asked to work remotely in the event of modified operations. More will be shared with you on Thursday.
Many details are still being finalized. We will update you again on Thursday morning. Please monitor your Wilkes email account as decisions are made.