Students, faculty and staff tuned in via Zoom June 17 for a Q&A forum about the return to campus at VCU Engineering. Gregory E. Triplett, Ph.D., the college’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, led the discussion, which had more than 170 attendees. Here are five key takeaways:

1. Your health and wellbeing are VCU Engineering’s top priority.
Students, faculty and staff will receive personal individual protective equipment kits upon return to campus. Everyone inside our buildings is required to wear a mask. No exceptions. Classrooms, labs, restrooms and halls will be rigorously sanitized every day. Lobbies and open spaces are closed until further notice.

2. The classroom experience will be engaging — and socially distanced.
Student success remains our focus. You can expect a variety of new modes of instruction, including in-person, online and blended models. You’ll have plenty of elbow room: classrooms will operate at reduced capacity. There will be no sharing of objects in the classroom or lab. Many classes will be “flipped” with lectures being given remotely but students working one-on-one with instructors during in-class time.

3. There will be labs.
Research centers will be open. Computer labs will be closed, but students will have access to those labs’ software to use on their own devices. Course laboratories will have smaller sections, lab work rotations, online labs and lab simulations. Undergraduate research will be conducted remotely.

4. Academic advising and career services will be remote and in-person.
Online advising appointments are available now, and this will continue. Face-to-face appointments will also be available this fall. The internship and career fair will be virtual. Employers are aggressively recruiting Ram Engineers. (Just last week 190 new positions were posted to HandShake).

5. The NEW Engineering Research Building is expected to open later this fall.
We look forward to seeing you there — and to welcoming students back to campus August 1 See you in class August 17!

See the full PowerPoint presentation, and stay tuned for future forums.