From the Dean's Desk - Aug. 11, 2020

Dear GT Computing colleagues,

Georgia Tech Dean of Computing Charles Isbell

Fall (the academic term, not the season) is upon us. As I walked from Klaus to CCB yesterday, I observed many of our students wandering across campus. Everyone in or around the buildings was wearing a mask and following the directions of the many, many signs plastered on all the walls. I don’t know if it will last or how it is outside of academic buildings, but it was nice to see members of our community respecting themselves and taking responsibility to keep themselves and each other safe.

Speaking of fall, the Institute has announced the details of its fall testing plan. The plan includes free testing for as many as 1500 asymptomatic faculty, staff and students every day. This testing will support a program of contact tracing and notification, which Tech will conduct in partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health. I encourage all of our faculty, staff, and students to make testing a regular part of their fall routine and to please sign up here.

I’d also like to pause for a moment to thank everyone in the College of Computing for their good faith and hard work. This summer was hard, and I know the fall will have challenges of its own. All of us are struggling with the bigger changes imposed by this pandemic: childcare, financial fears, travel restrictions, loneliness, and of course plenty of worry. In spite of all of it, I am pleased and proud to say that the College is still moving forward, and that we will keep on moving and keep moving forward together.

Finally, before signing off today, I’d like to thank Monica Sweat and the rest of DCI for holding a virtual workshop on online teaching last week. Our DCI instructors are excellent at what they do, and they have amassed an array of tips and tricks for things like TA office hours, class moderation, and the myriad other issues that arise in these environments. If you missed the workshop and you’d like to learn a little something, you can watch it here.

Stay safe.

Peace.

Charles L. Isbell, Jr.

John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean

College of Computing

Georgia Tech

EA: Alicia Richhart, alicia@cc.gatech.edu, 404-894-8357

Don't just adopt opinions, develop them

Respect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oab4ZCfTbOI

Fall testing plan: http://health.gatech.edu/coronavirus/testing-launched

Keep on moving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iQl46-zIcM

Keep moving forward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-l91O9VxN0