COVID Stories

Kickoff: Leading in Pandemic: Join our RIT Leaders as they share their stories

What was our experience? What do we take from it for our future?

Facilitated by: Dr. Jennifer Schneider, Fram Chair

9 AM - 9:30 AM

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Beyond Rochester: The world’s perspective

Listen & share the international campus perspectives of our global students & faculty.  The Pandemic, the response and the path forward includes us all. 

Facilitated by: Dr. Francis Brassard, Associate Professor, RIT Croatia

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

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Teaching & Learning Part 1: Covid - Coping (barely), Online (constantly), Videos (too many), Innovation (above and beyond), Dedication (for better or worse)

Faculty and staff have always had to be some of the most resilient employees - rolling with every strategic plan, new initiative, budget cut, and random change in schedule, technology, parking, etc. that higher ed could throw at them. The pivot of 2020 threatened to unhinge that resilience. Have we come out stronger, or worse for wear?

Facilitated by: Sandi Connelly, Principal Lecturer, COS with the CATs & ILI

10:30 AM - 11 AM

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Teaching in 2022 - The Phoenix of 2020

The wild ride of 2020 (and 2021!) still has us reeling! But, we will steady ourselves on the path again, and carry with us some of the most innovative strategies to teaching that higher education has seen since we put away the overheads and acetates! Even without zoom, our course materials are better, our attention to the needs of the learner (and the teacher!) are more focused, and when all is said and done, our classes will be better. Such radical changes made teachers into students, and perhaps that is what we have needed all along -- a restored willingness to learn from one another.

Facilitated by: Sandi Connelly, Principal Lecturer, COS with the CATs & ILI

11 AM - 12 PM

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Navigating Change and Work/Life Balance

How we work and live has changed. Join our conversation on making time for priorities, navigating the chaos and getting it done.  How has work changed? What changes do you want to make?

Facilitated by: David Reetz, PhD, CAPs Director

12 PM - 1 PM

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Fostering Academic Success: Every Student Counts

Join us for a panel & discussion on supporting students NOW – Student growth and success builds upon an environment of mentoring, advising and teaching.

Facilitated by: Dr. Mike Eastman, Associate Dean, CET

1 PM - 2 PM

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Lessons Learned: Student Perspectives on Living and Learning during COVID

Join a panel of student representatives from Student Government, Athletics, Residence Life and more to share their perspective on Living & Learning in Pandemic.

Facilitated by: Heath Boice-Pardee, EdD, Student Affairs

2 PM - 3 PM

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Coming Together: Fostering reconnection, understanding, and compassion amongst students, staff and faculty

Join us while we engage students, staff, and faculty in an exploration of their unique experience of the impacts of the pandemic personally, professionally, and academically. We will work to deepen understanding of each other’s experiences and how each group has been helped or hindered by the other. Participants will walk away with a deeper understanding and sense of compassion for each other as well as actionable solutions to move forward collectively and supportively.

Facilitated by: Joe Johnston, OMBUDS, and Kristina Colleluori, Mental Health Therapist and Outreach Coordinator, RIT Counseling and Psychological Services.

3 PM - 4 PM

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Combating Misinformation

Join us for a panel and discussion on how to recognize and combat the rampant misinformation and disinformation campaigns that are prolonging the pandemic by eroding trust in vaccines and scientific expertise. What can we learn from other public health and environmental crises about the spread and effects of false information? What can individuals, as well as institutions like RIT, do to help the public become more resilient in the face of rampant false information, especially shared on social media?

Featuring: Dr. Maureen Ferran (Associate Professor, COS, Life Sciences), Dr. Kaitlin Stack Whitney (Assistant Professor, COLA, Science, Technology, and Society), and Dr. Lawrence Torcello (Associate Professor, COLA, Philosophy)

Facilitated by: Dr. Christine Keiner (Professor, COLA, Science, Technology, and Society)

4 PM - 5 PM

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Using the Past to Inform the Present and Future

Like many historical health disasters—from the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia to the 1918 influenza pandemic to the 1999 outbreak of West Nile Virus in New York City—Covid has exposed social injustices by disproportionately harming marginalized populations and exacerbating xenophobia and racism. Join us for a panel and discussion on how scholars are using past public health emergencies to inform current and future plans to manage pathogens in ways that promote social and racial equity.

Featuring: Dr. Richard Newman (Professor, COLA, History), Dr. Rebecca Scales (Associate Professor, COLA, History), Dr. Kristoffer Whitney (Associate Professor, COLA, Science, Technology, and Society)

Facilitated by: Dr. Christine Keiner (Professor COLA, Science, Technology, and Society)

5 PM - 6 PM

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Wrap Up: What are the diamonds we gathered? Critical findings and writing our future story as a community.

With this event, we aim to gather our stories and leverage our collective critical thinking to create a better community on and off our campuses. How can we harness our power?

Facilitated by: Dr. Jennifer Schneider, COVID Stories team & Fram Advisory Boards

6 PM - 6:30 PM

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