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A Message From Dean Whitelaw
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Dear Stern undergraduate students,
I am writing to you as we finish up the fall semester and am reflecting on the extraordinary year that it has been. And I don’t mean extraordinary in the superlative sense, but in the beyond normal sense. Far from normal. Far from ordinary.
Reflecting
This semester has undoubtedly been a learning experience for students, faculty, staff and administrators. None of us have navigated a semester of college in the midst of a global pandemic, so we had to figure that out together. And, individually, none of us knew how we would respond to our new existence. Would we thrive? Would we struggle? Realistically, it was probably a mix of both for all of us.
So while we overcame many significant challenges this fall -- reconfiguring the fall course schedule to accommodate the largest possible number of students, outfitting in-person and remote teaching environments with flexible classroom solutions, and reimagining how we build community when we aren’t physically together -- there are yet opportunities to further support student learning and growth in the spring.
Looking Forward
With a COVID-19 vaccine on the horizon, there is reason to have hope and optimism that there is a light at the end of this long tunnel that we have been traveling together. As the vaccine rolls out worldwide, Stern will continue to work closely with the University to understand how those plans will translate to NYC, NYU and, specifically, the Undergraduate College community. We will, of course, share more as we learn more.
In the meantime, we are making plans for the spring semester, which will necessarily look very similar to the fall. The good news is that we learned a great deal these last few months, and we have been able to translate feedback we’ve received from faculty, staff and students into key priorities for the spring:
Supporting COVID-related challenges. The pandemic has impacted all of us in different ways, with these impacts likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The Undergraduate College will continue to remain flexible with and accommodating to students facing hardships, such as time zone differences, wifi problems, study space challenges, or illness. If you face challenges related to COVID-19 that you feel may impact your academic performance, please talk with each of your professors as soon as possible. Your Stern academic adviser can also help you navigate challenges with classes and may be able to refer you to additional support services.
Supporting student mental health and well-being. We know that zoom and screen fatigue, feelings of isolation, and academic pressures are very real, and we are here to support you. As always, we encourage any student who is struggling mentally to reach out to the NYU Wellness Exchange for help. In addition, and in partnership with NYU’s mental health experts, we will continue to infuse wellness into our community by addressing causes of stress or providing resources to students in crisis. Thanks to the Stern Undergraduate Well-Being Committee, and committees of Student Council and the Inter-Club Council, we have received several recommendations that we hope to implement in the near term, such as adding wellness information to course syllabi, holding wellness education days, and encouraging faculty to consider assignment-free long weekends when possible.
Ensuring academic excellence. We take pride in our well-rounded education and approach our academics with honesty and integrity, whether or not we are in a pandemic. Ensuring your classes are of the highest quality and assessments as fair as possible -- across time zones and class modalities -- remain central to our work. At Stern, the Learning Science Lab (LSL) has been a key teaching resource. We, along with LSL, will be incorporating student feedback, including feedback compiled by Student Council last month, into spring semester teaching and learning. While some student preferences, such as an expanded P/F policy, are not feasible due to University-wide considerations, we will support student voices to every extent possible and work closely with faculty to ensure they are aware of student needs during these unprecedented times.
Keeping students, faculty and staff informed. Communication is key and a delicate balance that can range from informing to inundating, the latter of which we endeavor to avoid. In the current environment, it is clear that we must communicate with frequency and transparency to ensure all constituents are informed and operating with common knowledge. To that end, we will communicate as we always have while ensuring clarity across audiences. As will continue to be the case, students can find important updates in the Stern Weekly, on Stern Life and Instagram. Stand-alone emails like this one will also remain a part of our communications strategy.
Gratitude
I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank the many students who have shared their experiences with us through a number of avenues, including university and school-wide surveys, Student Council, the Inter-club Council, the Judiciary Committee, Dean’s Initiatives, and so many more. Further, I want to thank our student leaders, who have truly gone above and beyond this semester to support the larger student body. For your ongoing thoughtfulness, resilience, and community spirit, we are grateful.
With that, on behalf of the Undergraduate College team, I wish you all the very best on your final exams and assignments. And I hope you are looking forward to a well-deserved winter break that brings you and your loved ones health and happiness.
Regards,
Dean Whitelaw
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Robert Whitelaw
Dean, The Undergraduate College
NYU Stern School of Business
40 West Fourth Street, Tisch Hall Suite 600
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-998-0338
CHANGE. DARE IT. DREAM IT. DRIVE IT.
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