At 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 10, Dr. Hector Quintanilla, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, emailed faculty members that classes will move back to in-person starting the following day, Wednesday, Oct. 11.
The email stated that professors would not have access to technology, but they can use whiteboards for lecture.
“Classroom technology will not be accessible (e.g. podium computers, projectors, network internet etc.),” Quintanilla said in the email. “Instruction will be lecture with use of whiteboards if desired.”
During the duration of online classes on Oct. 10, some professors chose to not hold classes, and rather wait until they were able to meet in person again.
“Not having class helped me to sort out a scheduling headache I was having this week,” Dr. Eric Hessel. adjunct instructor of music, said in an email. “Since we are in a unit about opera and musical theater, I am hoping to be able to demonstrate and show video clips of what’s going on since there are as much visual arts as there are musical arts.”
Tammy Evans-Mitchell, communications and public relations manager, said the university is investigating the cause of the internet outages.
“Texas Wesleyan has also engaged specialized cybersecurity professionals to investigate, remediate and restore its systems,” Evans-Mitchell said in an email. “The initial investigation showed that suspicious network activity has been
detected on certain university computer systems and devices.”
In an official email from the Office of Communications, the Wesleyan community was encouraged to continue monitoring Wesleyan’s official website, social media channels and university email for any further updates and instructions.
President Dr. Emily Messer said in a statement, “Texas Wesleyan University takes the network disruptions seriously, and we are actively working with our dedicated IT personnel and cybersecurity experts to address this issue. Our top priority is to ensure the security of our systems and the safety of our students, faculty and staff. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and cooperation as we work diligently to resolve this situation.”
The university will update students, faculty and staff as more information becomes available.
