Dear UMPI Students,
First and foremost, my thanks to each and every one of you who took in-person classes and/or resided on campus this semester for contributing to a safe and secure environment. And my continued best wishes to those of you, wherever you have called home this semester, as you studied at a distance. As has been said so many times already, this has been an unprecedented nine months in higher education and all of our lives, and I am so greatly impressed by the efforts of all students, faculty, and staff to meet these unforeseen challenges. As you are all aware, the nation is experiencing an especially intense spike in covid-19 infections, and Maine is in no way inured to this second wave of the pandemic, so I implore all of us to continue to stay safe, protect the health of our friends and family, and help our communities to effectively address this emergency.
As another way to help ensure our collective safety, I remind you that we are expanding our final round of asymptomatic testing to provide safe departure and travel testing to all who participated in our arrival testing at the start of the semester.
Although the last three instructional weeks of the semester will be completed solely through distance technologies, we remain committed to providing the assistance and services you need, wherever you might be. Thus, please look for another “check-in” survey in your email today. Completing this survey not only helps us to get you the support you need to end this semester, but assists us in providing better services in the spring to ensure that we are meeting your needs to the best of our abilities, whether you are a residence hall student, a commuter student, an online student, or a YourPace learner.
If you need any assistance in signing up for spring session courses– or even winter session courses (which begin on December 21)– please do not hesitate to contact your professional advisors: Lorelei Locke (Director), Jean Henderson, Bethany Lord, Shara Page, and Jessica Winslow (YourPace)– https://www.umpi.edu/offices/advising/staff/ .
We will be in close contact throughout these upcoming days and weeks as we prepare for the start of the Spring 2021 semester (January 25) and move-in dates prior to that. As throughout this Fall semester, this Spring we will be committed to providing both in-person, campus classes and experiences as well as distance (online) coursework that meets your needs, whatever your situation. Our testing and safety protocols for the spring will repeat those of this fall, with necessary modifications as science and best practices identify. You can find this fall’s information here and we will be updating this site regularly for spring. The University of Maine System updates its information here on a regular basis as well. And you can always ask us any question you might have by emailing umpi@maine.edu at any time.
My thanks, once again, for your efforts, your persistence, your trust in the University of Maine at Presque Isle to provide a safe environment for your learning– and best wishes to you and your families as we enter into this holiday season.
Ray
