President Edwards provides update on campus operations

Wright State University President Sue Edwards

Wright State University President Sue Edwards shared the following message with the campus community June 2:

Dear Wright State family,

I hope you and your families are both healthy and safe. I know these past few months have been extremely challenging, but we have to look forward and we have been continuing to prepare for the 2020-21 academic year. This will likely be a year unlike any other previously experienced at Wright State University. As has been the governing principle since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety and wellness of our students and employees has been our number one priority and always will be as we make our decisions moving forward.

Across the university our faculty, staff, and students have been working hard in conjunction with state health authorities and with other IUC institutions to develop plans for a gradual reopening of our campuses. We have already begun the return of researchers to campus with a gradual, stepwise return following appropriate new safety protocols, required training, and documentation, and we are learning through this experience. You will see new procedures that align with the State of Ohio’s protocols for face coverings, physical distancing, health assessments, hygiene, and cleaning. These new protocols and procedures will help us as we bring other units and operations back to campus.

We are still considering timeframes for when more employees may return, when other campus operations may open, and when voluntary athletic practices may resume.

Our aim is to make decisions regarding the 2020-21 academic year by the end of June. Of course, our ultimate goal is to welcome our students who are able and who choose to participate in an on-campus experience for the fall semester to do so, but only if it is safe to do so. To that end the university will continue to be guided by consultations with the State of Ohio and our peer institutions. In the meantime, our faculty have been working to prepare a dynamic and flexible educational experience for our students.

We will continue to plan and update you as our plans are firmed up. I want to THANK YOU again for everything you are doing for our students and each other during the disruptions caused by this global pandemic.

I continue to keep you all in my thoughts. Please stay safe!

Best wishes,

Sue