Dear UAB Faculty and Community,

My thoughts are with all of you during this unprecedented global pandemic.

Amid this crisis, our faculty are truly wearing superhero capes. Many of our faculty are on the front lines, serving the sick and vulnerable at the peril of their own and their families’ health. Others are facilitating how to address the dynamic challenges our health care system faces. Faculty members are investing countless hours to research this devastating virus to advance our knowledge for the benefit of human welfare. Our faculty teaching this semester are heroic, in many cases completely redesigning their courses in a short period of time. Our faculty are developing new ways to prepare our students to meet the new demands both in the classroom and beyond the walls of UAB.

Beyond the virtual transition of courses and daily operations, many of you also have to adapt to additional responsibilities while working remotely, such as childcare, homeschooling, and eldercare while managing your own fears and anxieties of the unknown future. We recognize you are doing your best to manage competing demands while working remotely and appreciate your hard work and efforts.

Universities across the country are engaged in mindful discourse on productivity in light of other demands during this unprecedented time. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee and Administration have worked collaboratively on the Academic Continuity Plan and are having continued conversations about ways to reduce the anxiety for faculty and students as we face this evolving situation.

We still confront significant challenges in many areas of this (still) untreatable disease. We are confronting health care challenges in treatment, diagnosis, and protection of our health care workers. We face challenges, both pedagogical and technical, educating our students during a time of necessary social distance for the safety of our community. We are facing social injustice and global discord as secondary outcomes of the disease. Despite these complex challenges, members of the UAB community have come together through meaningful collaborations, maintaining integrity and the courage to face challenges and evolve. It is encouraging to witness the UAB community embrace the long term perspective and find ways to work together, support each other, and make authentic connections through electronic means.

I believe great universities are a source of hope. They embrace challenges with integrity and resilience. They advance knowledge and maintain progress, even in the face of complex challenges. UAB embodies this ideal.

It is unknown what the impact of COVID-19 will be on our campus and the world at large. I do know this community is ready to face the obstacles as they come, to deploy our intellect, and to guide how to navigate the unchartered waters ahead. I am inspired by you and know together we are guided by a sense of purpose that is strong in resilience, courage, and initiative.

The Faculty Senate is here to advocate on behalf of faculty and to offer support. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at khearld@uab.edu or your unit’s senators with any issues or concerns.

Warm regards,
K. Ria Hearld, Ph.D.
Chair, UAB Faculty Senate