Friday, March 13, 2020
Dear Business Administration Students,
As the campus responds in real time to the Coronavirus threat, we wanted to reach out and thank you for the amazing level of understanding you have displayed. We know that the new procedures regarding social distancing are impacting many aspects of your daily lives, and we want to assure you that maintaining a high quality of education is our top priority. Please ensure you are regularly checking and thoroughly reading your emails during this time.
The campus will remain open, meaning faculty and staff will have access to offices and most operations will continue through some combination of on-site resources and telecommuting. Per the Chancellor’s message, students have been instructed to return to their off-campus residences and limited services will be available for students who are not able to relocate.
Rest assured we’ll be getting you additional information as it becomes available. Please be on the lookout for emails from your professors regarding finals. Each faculty member will decide what remote administration of their final looks like, so please check and thoroughly read all emails coming through, noting that some messages could come from a course number, rather than a faculty member’s usual email address. You can read the email you received yesterday, March 12th from Michael Dennin – Vice Provost, Teaching & Learning Dean with the subject: Update on Exams and Spring Quarter Instruction for Students – for more instructions for ensuring you are set up for remote finals.
For the time being, all previously scheduled school events are being canceled, postponed or remote delivered. Over the coming days/weeks, we will be reaching out to those orgs/students who have reserved rooms through the program office for Spring events. There has been no campus-level decision made yet regarding commencement; information will be shared as soon as it becomes available. We know there have been questions about parking refunds; please visit https://parking.uci.edu/ for information on the process. More information is also forthcoming from campus regarding other refunds that may be applicable.
Regarding spring instruction and remote learning: This means classes will be held as scheduled but online. Some instructors will decide to hold their classes during their regularly scheduled times and days and will provide students with information on how to join the class via their computer or smartphone. Others will shift to asynchronous remote delivery of classes, meaning students will be able to watch pre-recorded lectures and participate in activities using various online tools.
Beginning Monday, March 16, the Undergraduate Student Affairs office will conduct advising via phone (949.824.9426), email (ugprograms@merage.uci.edu) and remote advising appointments (https://assistme.merage.uci.edu/Home) during our regular hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm. Plans are being made to offer remote advising via Chat in the spring quarter; stay tuned for more on this roll out.
We understand that this is extremely disruptive and interferes with many of your plans. We in the Paul Merage School of Business and all of UC Irvine are committed to providing the best educational experience we possibly can during these difficult times, and we are taking these measures in the interest of protecting the health of our communities.
We know the Merage School provides more than just classes; it’s also the community that we share. On that note, we are working on creative strategies for events and activities through our student clubs and the Merage Undergraduate Student Association, albeit re-envisioned for the reality we will face next quarter. Stay tuned for more details.
Stay up to date on campus and health-related news about COVID19 at https://ehs.uci.edu/PublicHealth/coronavirus.html. Campus has established the UCI Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Center. Students, staff, faculty, parents, and community partners may call 949-824-9918 or email covid19@uci.edu to connect directly for more information.
Many more emails to come as we all navigate this new path together – thank you for your patience and understanding as we find our way.
Best,
Courtney Elmes
Senior Director, Undergraduate Programs