Video by LaTerra Wair

Dear Students,

The mission of Texas Wesleyan University is “to develop students to their full potential as individuals and as members of the world community.”  At no time has our mission been more relevant.

As we respond to this extraordinary world-wide public health emergency, we are keeping our mission front and center.  We will continue providing you with an education that will develop you to your full potential while implementing the maximum social distancing possible to aid the community in “flattening the curve.”

Our “Smaller. Smarter.” approach to higher education will serve us well and I am confident that we will be able to work through these very significant challenges.  The faculty and staff of the university have been extraordinary.  I have never been more proud to be a part of the TXWES team.  While there are logistical hurdles, everyone is approaching the tasks at hand with energy, creativity and optimism.

We recognize that the disruption caused by this public health emergency to normal educational activities on campus likely has resulted in a flood of emotions, anxiety and stress.  I assure you, we also feel these emotions.  Many of the events and activities you have worked hard to realize have been postponed or cancelled.  But we are confident that, to paraphrase Nobel Prize winning author, William Faulkner, we will not only survive, we will prevail.

Many of you will have questions or need to contact someone on the staff of the university to work through individual issues.  If you need to reach someone at the university, the best way is to email them at their TXWES email address found on our TXWES.EDU website.

Here is a summary of our latest response to the public health emergency.  As things are still changing daily, we will also continue to post updates at https://txwes.edu/coronavirus/.

Class Instruction – As you know, we are taking this week to move all face-to-face instruction online starting Monday, March 23 through the end of the spring semester.  Faculty who normally teach face-to-face classes are working with our Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to develop creative and engaging course content that can be delivered virtually.  Classes will be held virtually at their scheduled day/time using Blackboard Collaborate.  If you have questions about accessing the course content, please contact your professor.  If you do not have Internet connectivity at home, please contact Dr. Dennis Hall, Vice President for Student Affairs, at [email protected].

Staff Working Remotely – Most university staff members are now working remotely while continuing operations of the university.  The best and most direct way for you to contact university staff members is via email at their TXWES email address.  If you call and do not reach us, please leave a message and staff will attempt to get back to you in 1 day.

Residence Halls — Residential students must make arrangements to move out of their room by March 25.  If you would like to apply to stay in the halls after that date, please contact Carson Dinger, Assistant Director of Residence Life, at [email protected].  A credit will be posted to your TXWES account reflecting the pro rata portion of unused room and board.

Campus Facilities — We are closing access to most buildings on campus except for those who have an essential need to be in them.

Student Athletes — The NAIA and the Sooner Athletic Conference have cancelled all sports practices and play for the spring semester.  If you have questions about your continued athletic eligibility for next academic year, please contact your coach.

Outside Events — All events sponsored by outside groups have been cancelled or postponed until further notice.

University Sponsored Events — Consistent with CDC guidance, all events with an expected attendance of 50 people or more will be cancelled or postponed for the next eight weeks (through May 10).  Some university events may be conducted virtually.  For example, organizers of our “University College Day” which highlights student research are making plans to move the research presentations to a form of “webinar.”  We anticipate that some events can be postponed and rescheduled to a later date and we look forward to celebrating our resiliency as soon as possible. Additional communications will be forthcoming with details.

Commencement – Many of you have been asking about commencement ceremonies.  While we do not currently have all the details established, I want to assure you that TXWES will host robing, hooding and commencement ceremonies.  These ceremonies most likely will be postponed. Over the coming weeks, we will make arrangements and share them with you as they become available.

Thank you so much for all your patience and understanding as we meet the challenges we face.

GO RAMS!

Sincerely,

Frederick G. Slabach

President and University Professor