Dear CNS Students,
As we prepare for classes to start again next week, I wanted to provide you with a few quick updates and links on where to get information.
First, if you need technology for shifting to online classes, please contact Student Emergency Services or fill out our CNS Survey (and we'll get the information to SES).
There are a number of general student FAQs that are appearing at the University. If you are looking for answers to general questions I would suggest you go to the Texas One Stop FAQ. We are working on a CNS-specific FAQ that should be up in a few days (if not sooner).
Academic policies around Q-drops and pass/fail are changingto help student adapt to the move to online classes. These changes will ensure you do not need to make hasty decisions about dropping a course or changing to pass fail. Currently the deadline has been shifted back to the last day of class. More changes will come later this week.
If you have questions about your class, please contact your professor. I would recommend going through Canvas. They might have quick answers, or you might need to be patient and wait a bit longer. Just like you are experiencing a whole world of change in shifting to online classes, living in new circumstances, addressing changes affecting work, shopping, friends, family, etc… so are your professors. I can assure you, they are working to make the remainder of the semester a solid learning experience. But they might not be instantly responding to questions.
Thanks for your patience. With things changing daily, it's hard to balance between sending too many messages, making people feel overwhelmed, and sending too few, making people feel like they have no answers. As always, if you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at cns-studentdean@austin.utexas.edu and my team and I will work to get you answers as quickly as we can.
Finally, I know that most of you are more savvy about staying connected online and virtually than I am, but I urge you to stay connected to friends and family. Especially anyone you know right now who might be particularly isolated or going through a difficult time. A short message or time to chat can mean a lot. So keep supporting each other, and we look forward to having you "back" next week for classes.
Best,
Dr. Vanden Bout
P.S. In case any of you are missing the science jokes, here is one for this week: There are two types of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data sets.
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