{"id":1997,"date":"2020-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/blogtest\/april-10-update-from-president-mcphee-on-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T17:19:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T17:19:36","slug":"april-10-update-from-president-mcphee-on-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/april-10-update-from-president-mcphee-on-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"APRIL 10: Update from President McPhee on COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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To the University community,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This morning as I was coming to work, I took a moment to stop and look around, enjoying the quietness of the day and the beauty of our campus.\u00a0 Looking out over Walnut Grove, I was surprised at how good it felt and then I realized, I was actually excited \u2013 maybe for the first time a several weeks.\u00a0 I was excited, not because of the situation we are currently in, but for what the future holds for our community.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As demonstrated over the past month, we are a family of incredibly talented, creative and resilient individuals.\u00a0 Each of us has contributed to the success of the university in dealing with the COVID-19 virus.\u00a0 I am very grateful for the commitment and dedication of our employees and students.\u00a0 I am appreciative of our students, who were confronted with a crisis that upended their studies, plans and lives, yet have persisted\u2026please continue to participate in your courses.\u00a0 I am grateful for our faculty, who were confronted with perhaps the greatest challenge of their careers and responded with resolve and innovation. And my sincerest thanks to our staff and administration, who have soldiered on in this pandemic to support us and keep our University moving forward.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

After ZOOM meetings with the Deans and Chairs yesterday, I am certain that we will continue to successfully navigate this situation.\u00a0 More importantly, I am hopeful that in the not too distant future, we will soon be back on campus, engaging in a more traditional manner, and that we will emerge from this as an even stronger institution because of your efforts.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In this spirit, I would like to put forward some recent examples of how our True Blue family has shined in this crisis.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Pass-Fail Grading Option<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My appreciation goes to to Provost Mark Byrnes and Vice Provost Peter Cunningham, who, in consultation with our faculty-led University Curriculum Committee and Graduate Council,\u00a0\u00a0produced this excellent and informative FAQ sheet<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to help our students navigate their options.\u00a0Here\u2019s a link to a great interview with Dr. Cunningham<\/span><\/a>\u00a0explaining the P-F option. Key points for students:<\/span><\/p>\n