- Hi everyone! I'm Catenya McHenry,
Communications Director at the McCombs School of Business,
and we are so excited to welcome you to our brand new Q and A with Lil.
It is so great to see you again, Lil, and to regroup and talk about
all the things that we've been working on this summer,
and all the things we have upcoming.
So, welcome to our new Q and A, Lil.
- Thank you, Catenya.
It's so good to be speaking to our entire McCombs community.
And I am back on campus helping us get ready to launch the fall semester.
- Yes. It's going to be a huge undertaking,
but we're excited to be back.
So, let's talk first with some exciting news.
Let's talk about our enrollment numbers across McCombs.
What are things looking like right now?
- Well, it's a good question, because back in April and May,
there was a lot of uncertainty about enrollment.
And what we're observing is enrollments are higher than ever.
So, we have more than 1,000 freshman McCombs students starting.
That's an uptick from last year and
a much higher underrepresented minority component than we've ever had.
And our other programs are doing extremely well.
We have a number of top-ranked master's programs.
One year master's programs. Those are booming.
And our MBA enrollments in both Houston and Dallas are solid.
We, by our own choice,
shrank the daytime MBA just a little for health and safety reasons
so that we could maintain an appropriate density in the classroom.
And across the MBA and the master's,
it was an impressive set of students applying to come.
So, the demand for our programs has never been higher.
- That is so fantastic. Such great news.
Because, like you talked about, the uncertainty,
not knowing what things were going to look like,
and whether or not students were planning to come back to campus,
It's such a great indication of the strength of our program
and the strength of our university as well, which is so fantastic.
- And Catenya, we are doing our utmost
to provide the flexibility that makes parents and students
make the choices that are the most safe for them.
So, in the spring, of course, we were hearing that
people very much wanted us to reopen campus, and we are.
And there was a student survey in mid-July
when the cases were surging across the state of Texas
expressing more uncertainty about the health and safety.
In response to all of that, we have made sure that our classes
can be taken remotely,
So, if a student is sick or a student prefers that method of learning,
we will accommodate that.
And at the same time, the majority of our McCombs faculty
remain eager to see our students in person,
keeping health and safety requirements in mind.
So, we want the very best for our students
in whatever learning modality makes them feel the most safe.
And we plan to work with faculty, staff, and students
to be flexible as new information arises.
- And that's a good segue to talking about now
what to expect when we all return to campus --
staff, faculty, as well as students. So, let's talk about that first.
What our buildings will look like, the safety protocols that are in place,
and what we expect of staff, students, and faculty when the return happens.
- So one of the things I'm so proud about the McCombs School of Business
is our facilities and business affairs people are so on the ball
that we are typically chosen as the beta test.
And because of that, and our MBA students returning sooner,
UT has been working with our people on our buildings
even quicker than the rest of campus.
So, it has, of course, had deep-cleaning
throughout the classroom and the staff and faculty buildings.
And here's what we're expecting.
In general, our classes will have no more than 40% density.
And so, to facilitate that, we have made it very clear
where to sit, where not to sit.
We are providing hand sanitizing wipes at building entrances,
so that one can wipe your own space the way
I do on an airplane seat these days.
And, of course, we're requiring masks
all times indoors, unless you are in your own private office
with no one else there.
We strongly encourage wearing a mask outside.
And, of course, even if you're outside, if you're within --
if you're close to someone, of course you should have your mask on,
just the way you've been doing at home all summer.
- So, in addition to that, as people are leaving buildings,
is there an expectation that they will need to hand sanitize
as they're leaving a building or entering another building
that's not our building on campus? Or not Rowling or McCombs?
- I plan to do so. All of the buildings will have
pump stations of hand sanitizer, and I plan to use it liberally.
So, I recommend all the rest of us do too.
- Yeah. And there's also -- I want to mention a resource
for students and staff also. There's a Protect Texas Together app
that will help people track their own symptoms.
So that's a good thing to mention, as well.
- That'll be launched in mid-August.
They've already been successfully beta-testing it
mostly in the health schools, like the nursing school.
And we're asking everyone to come to campus
to take temperatures, record symptoms.
And I understand the university student health facilities
are ramping up their testing capability
so that anyone who has symptoms,
or anyone that our contact tracing suggests
might have come in contact with someone with COVID,
can get tested here on campus.
And we're going to have much more information out about that during August.
- Sure.
- Another issue in terms of health and safety preparation
is President Hartzell's request that students quarantine themselves
for two weeks before they return to campus.
What we're concerned about, of course, is community spread
among the students' acquaintances in their hometown.
And I just want to say, I am currently quarantining
in my own home, having come back from a trip.
And, to reemphasize that I want to protect you,
and I took all appropriate precautions when I was out of town.
Everyone I saw was in a mask.
And, in spite of that, I am keeping you safe and my husband safe
by staying isolated for two weeks before I re-enter
the Austin and Texas community.
And I hope all our students will do the same,
because we want safe students returning to campus.
- Absolutely.
- We want to talk a little more about what we're doing about --
- Yes. - masks.
So, University of Texas is arranging for safety kits
for the undergraduates that will include a mask
and some hand sanitizer.
In some ways, I think every adult, and that means all of our students too,
ought to have masks that they are already
walking around in the world with.
And yet, we want to demonstrate our care for our community as well.
So, for faculty who are teaching this fall,
we are ordering a supply of clear face masks,
because a friendly face at the front of a classroom
is very important for our student's learning.
And we will be ordering a supply of cloth masks
for faculty and staff who have reason to be in the building regularly
to provide our student-centered mission.
And we will make sure we have supplies of disposable masks
so that, if somehow you forgot yours that day,
we want to protect you and everyone around you.
- And how will those be handed out? Will people need to apply for them?
Or just go pick them up? Will they cost anything?
Or is it just a service that we're providing?
- We're not going to charge faculty and staff for the masks we're providing.
And the disposable masks, I think our intent is to have them
inside the McCombs School, if a McCombs student
came by and needed a mask.
- Good. And then there was also --
You're encouraging faculty to bring their own pens and pencils.
So there's minimizing sharing between --
from person to person, as well.
- That, and of course faculty should be planning for their class
to not be handing out papers and picking them back up.
So, syllabi will be electronically delivered
on our course management websites.
And we're strongly encouraging online exams
to minimize the transference of paper between people.
And I think all of our cafes will be shut,
so everyone needs to bring their own lunch.
As we used to when we were younger.
- Right. (laughs)
Get ready to bring the thermos and a lunchbox, right?
(both laugh)
Going back to the old way of doing things.
- Yup.
- We have some new inductees into our Hall of Fame this year.
It's a big celebration that McCombs sponsors each year,
where we honor McCombs alums, UT alums, and leaders in the community,
So, this year, four new inductees are chosen,
as well as new rising stars.
They are George Ackert, who is a McCombs alum.
The honorable Kevin Eltife who is on our Board of Regents,
who's also a McCombs alum.
Gay Gaddis, who many of you know very well.
She operates T3 which is a think tank here in Austin.
And also Mark Gibson who is also a McCombs alum.
And then our rising stars, Jessica Lopez, Michael Smith, and also April Underwood.
So, congratulations to them and welcome to the Hall of Fame.
- Thanks, Catenya, for speaking about our Hall of Fame inductees.
One of the most fun parts of being the interim dean
is getting to know all the good friends and devoted advisors of McCombs
that President Jay Hartzell cultivated over the years.
And all of these people are giving back to the community,
and definitely to the McCombs School.
We normally celebrate these inductees with a dinner in the fall.
We are postponing until the spring,
hoping for things to be more back to normal,
because honoring their accomplishments
really deserves an in-person event,
And we'll see you then, we hope.
- Is there anything else you want to add
as we transition into a brand new, redesigned fall 2020?
- So, I'm excited that the fall semester is going to launch.
We have, as a faculty, invested more than ever before in teaching excellence.
Our associate dean for instructional innovation
and his team have been hosting trainings throughout July.
We have substantially upgraded the equipment in our classrooms
to permit some dual-modality teaching.
And what was shared recently with me,
is that faculty have never enjoyed more collaboration
across disciplines and ranks about teaching tips,
because we want students to have
an exceptionally good experience this fall.
And our faculty are devoted to that,
and our program staff are working hard
to remotely welcome students to campus
for our orientations all summer.
- Sure. I want to mention, too, some resources online for students,
staff, and faculty -- a couple of websites.
One is Protect Texas Together. That is protect.utexas.edu.
There's Longhorns Online, which helps students navigate
your online experience
And then there's another one, Longhorn Connection,
which is basically a community.
So it helps you connect with your peers and any other Longhorns
that are out there spread out around the globe.
So, make sure you access those.
Well, Lil, thank you so much for your time today.
I wish everybody well
in what we're all navigating together as we reopen campus
for the fall 2020.
And thank you for joining us on our new Q and A.
We will see you next time.
- Hook 'em Horns! - Hook 'em Horns.