Students, Faculty, Residents, Staff, Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
Happy Fall and greetings from a little get-away off campus. While I’ve been gone most of the week, several events have been happening around campus, in addition to our in-person and on-line classes, labs and clinics.
QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING: On Monday, many of us participated in what was the second time our Board of Trustees met virtually. As has been our practice, the meeting provided our all-volunteer board an update on all of the things our fantastic faculty and staff have been doing in response to the pandemic and also our initiatives surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion and many other more academically focused success stories.
DEI EVENTS: The University’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee held an important and informative Lunch and Learn this week on the topic of “Interest Conversion in a Time of Pandemic and Police Brutality: How COVID and Growing Authoritarianism Provide an Opening for Solidarity.” The featured speaker was Tim Wise, one of the most prominent and anti-racist writers and educators in the United States. We look forward to continued dialogue around diversity, equity and inclusion within the Salus community. If you were not able to attend and would like to view the recording, please check your email from the DEI Committee for instructions.
GRAND ROUNDS: Today’s Grand Rounds will be presented by Dr. Tracy Offerdahl on the topic “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics Update.” For more information, click here.
COVID-19 DASHBOARD: In order to help maintain transparency and keep everyone informed, today we will be launching our COVID-19 dashboard that will inform our entire university community of the number of people who have tested negative and positive since we began tracking this several months ago. Of note, due to the continued unavailability of a reliable and affordable daily testing alternative for our entire community, we continue to rely on self-reporting of symptoms and/or potential exposure through our screening process to keep our community safe. Isolation, self-quarantining and private testing is utilized to clear infected (actual or probable) individuals for a return to campus.
VOTING INFORMATION: National Voter Registration Day was earlier this week. If you're not registered yet, now's the time! Click here for more information and to make sure you’re registered.
FACULTY FOCUS: This week’s Faculty Focus is on Gabriel Fickett, OD, FAAO, one of our newest assistant professors at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University and The Eye Institute (TEI). Dr. Fickett has extensive experience fitting specialty contact lenses for adults and children with corneal disease, post penetrating keratoplasty, keratoprosthesis, aphakia, and ocular trauma. Read more about Dr. Fickett at salus.edu/GabrielFickett.
FINAL THOUGHTS: As we approach this weekend, I’d like to wish our Jewish colleagues a “good fast” as they prepare to observe Yom Kippur, which begins on Sunday evening. I’d also like to take a moment to remind everyone to ensure that they have registered to vote in the upcoming presidential election. The outcome of this election will affect us all for generations, so, no matter what your political leanings are, it’s my strong conviction that we all have both a personal responsibility and obligation to vote.
Finally, while I probably don’t need to remind anyone of this, we are still in the midst of a deadly pandemic. No matter what you hear or see in the media, this a real public health emergency and we, especially as health care professionals, need to continue to serve as examples and practice social distancing, wear a face mask when around others and wash our hands frequently. Also, please remember, when on campus, the only place you are permitted to eat is in the cafeteria or tent we’ve set up outside that space. Also remember that what you do off campus directly affects all of us on campus!
Have a great weekend. I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy this nice Fall weather. Be safe, be smart and remain Salus Strong!
Mike
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