Dean's Message #1 7/2/2020

Message 1

Dear School of Music Family;

I hope you’re enjoying a pleasant and restorative summer.  The thought of our reunion in the Music building is both exciting and sobering.  Our absence from the building and our physical distance from each other these past several months has been necessary for health and safety;  yet, the resulting sense of detachment has taken a toll on us all.  The bond we share as a creative community is extremely important.  Working together again on site will affirm our connections and restore to us all an element of interaction that we've gone without since March.

 I'd like to extend a special welcome to our incoming Freshman class, our new graduate students, and our transfer students who are beginning study with us in the Fall!  The Coronavirus reality has impacted everything from high-school graduations, to job situations and family dynamics.  Despite the challenges of this year, please know that we are enthusiastic about your future as a part of the UofL School of Music Family.  Our goal is to exceed your expectations and to make sure you feel fully embraced by our community.  

 While our reunion in August is much anticipated, we must prepare now to acclimate to a new normal.  It was our hope to be well on the other side of the COVID-19 peak by now.  Unfortunately, as a country, we are not.  By now, many of us know someone who has been impacted by the Coronavirus.   The CDC reports the recent statistics below for the United States.  As these numbers illustrate, the infection rate has increased in the past month, and seems to correlate with the reopening of certain businesses and the resumption of certain recreational activities.  (See 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html for both national and state data.)

The University of Louisville and the School of Music are committed to taking this pandemic very seriously, keeping you informed, and giving you the clear guidance necessary to help ensure the health and safety of our working environment.  To that end, this is the first in a series of communications that you will receive from me as we look toward reoccupying the building later this month and starting classes on August 17th.

 All of our thinking will be guided by the science that conveys these basic facts about COVID-19:

• COVID-19 is spread through person-to-person proximity.
• The more densely populated an area, the higher the likelihood of transmission.
• The longer the duration of person-to-person proximity, the higher the likelihood of transmission.

COVID-transmission raises special concerns for ensembles, singers, and wind players.  Music faculty and staff have been in ongoing conversations about addressing these concerns, and more details are forthcoming as we look to science and on-campus specialists for guidance.  We fully intend to support practice, rehearsal, and performance for all of our students;  the modes through which we do so, however, will likely differ significantly from our prior customs.  

 The University and the School of Music will implement a hybrid instructional model.  This means that courses will be delivered in settings that involve various on-site and on-line combinations.  Courses taught entirely face-to-face will require the minimum 6ft. of physical distancing.  The course schedule is currently being modified with coding to indicate which courses are face to face with social distancing (FF), which courses are hybrid, including both on-site and online instruction (HY), which courses are to be taught remotely and synchronously, but online (RT), and which courses are distance education, meaning asynchronously and online (DE). More information about ensemble instruction will become available in the weeks ahead.

 Once again, the Music building will become our hub of interaction and creativity, with the following significant changes:

• Everyone entering the building will be required to wear a face mask.  Face masks should be worn at all times unless singing (alone) or playing a wind instrument (alone) in designated practice rooms with proper air flow.  The University is providing each student one reusable mask, but we are strongly urging everyone to have their own.
• Physical distancing will be required throughout the building.  Spaces should be occupied only to the extent allowed by a minimum of six feet of distance between persons.
• Frequent hand sanitization and hand-washing will be urged.  The School of Music will have designated sanitizing stations, but we are strongly urging everyone to have their own supply.
• Many spaces in the building will be reconfigured to afford physical distancing for teaching and rehearsals.  Anticipate that there will be significant changes.
• Practice Rooms with windows will be prioritized for singers and wind players.  More information on practice-room protocol is forthcoming.
• Persons experiencing flu-like or COVID-like symptoms, or persons with known exposure to someone who has tested COVID-positive should not enter the Music building.  To document any such cases, there will be a Tracking Report Form to complete electronically.  Staff should submit the form to Shavon Wagner, faculty should submit the form to Krista Wallace-Boaz, and students should submit their forms to Michelle Williams.  Persons with known exposure to anyone testing COVID-19 positive will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
• The School of Music will distribute language on COVID-19 protocols that should be included in all Fall 2020 course syllabi.

We believe that a safe, productive, and rewarding semester of music study and engagement is entirely possible. I am asking that we all support each other, and that we hold each other accountable.  If you see me without a face mask, or if you observe that my physical distance is less than six feet, by all means, call me out.  Please also check your UofL email on a regular basis, and ask your peers to do the same so that we can maintain effective communication. We are, indeed, an interdependent community of care, and these times will call upon us all to live out that reality in our day-to-day practices.

 Finally, I am urging that we all begin thinking of Plan B.  While our preferred scenario is to proceed as described here, the fact is that we simply don't know what the virus will do.  Perchance conditions require us to do so, we must be prepared for the possibility of a full and abrupt transition to online instruction, and we will want this transition to occur as smoothly as possible.  We will want to remain alert to the needs of our pianists, percussionists, special technology needs, and any other provisions that will facilitate the continuation of study and music-making without interruption.

 Thanks so much for taking the time to read this lengthy but important message.  Please stay tuned for more information.

 Warmly,

Teresa