Category: Education

“Climate Warriors” Film & Discussion on Mon 12/7 with RU Green

The Roosevelt sustainability student organzation, RU Green, is hosting a showing of the documentary Climate Warriors on Monday, December 7th, at 5 pm. This film follows many stories of climate injustices around the world and shows what people are doing to combat these atrocities. Following the documentary will be a short discussion about the climate justice movement.

All RU community members are welcome to attend! To register for the event please go to https://linktr.ee/rugreen so RU Green organizers can get a rough headcount of attendees and work out final logistics. RU Green will email responders a link on the day of the event. For more info, contact RU Green president Sophia Gallo (sgallo01@mail.roosevelt.edu).


RU Green-Climate Warriors Event 2020-12-07 (Flier)

Service Project Info for SUST 350 (Fall 2020)

Hey, SUST 350 students! One of the unique experiential learning (EXL) features of our online section of SUST 350 Service & Sustainability is that you get to determine what your individual service project is for the Fall 2020 semester. This is your chance to contribute to the sustainability efforts of an organization you care about that is advancing sustainability and/or enhancing resilience within in your home or neighboring community, in the city of Chicago, here at Roosevelt University, or even beyond the borders of the Chicago region. It also serves as an analog to the on-site service work at Eden Place Nature Center and Farm performed during the last several years by students in past F2F versions of this course.

So what counts as a suitable project in this context? And what do we mean by community-based sustainability work? You will address these questions from the perspective of your own personal/academic knowledge and background, work and educational experience, personal interests, geographic range/limitations, and personal/family safety considerations here in the Covid-19 era.

My own general answer as the SUST 350 instructor is that there are a wide variety of service projects you can undertake, whether in person or remotely, as long as they contribute in some form or fashion to the advancement of any one or combination of the Three Es of sustainability within a given community — environment, economy, and/or equity — which in turn impact the resilience of that community.

For more detailed information on the service project component of our class, check out this document: 350 Service Project Info 2020Fall (pdf)

7/31 Update on Covid-19 & Fall 2020 Planning @RooseveltU

Roosevelt University’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website provides the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. This includes a helpful section on Learning and Working Remotely for students and faculty. Please check this site frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students also should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors.

7/27/20 Weekly Recap: please read this info posted on 7/31/20 for Covid-19 related info on RU’s upcoming Fall 2020 semester.

COVID-19 Website Update

Updated quarantine guidance along with updated FAQs were posted to the COVID-19 website. Please keep in mind there are still many unknowns and the information is subject to change given the current state of public health.

Fall 2020 Athletic Competitions Postponed

Earlier this week, Roosevelt University announced its postponement of 2020 fall sport intercollegiate athletic competitions as the result of ongoing public health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Roosevelt will begin work immediately to plan the resumption of competition in those impacted sport programs during the 2021 spring academic semester. Read More

Return to Campus Information Session Recordings

Thank you to all the members of the Roosevelt community who attended our Return to Campus Information Sessions. If you were unable to attend, please view the recordings below:

Upcoming Return to Campus Information Sessions and Discussions

Current Students, Campus Life and Residence Life
Hosted by Jamar Orr, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Wednesday, August 5 at 12 p.m. CDT
For current students and family
Click here to RSVP

Human Resources Protocols and Procedures
Hosted by Toyia K. Stewart, Vice President for Human Resources
Thursday, August 6 at 10 a.m. CDT
For Roosevelt faculty and staff
Click here to RSVP

Stay in Touch. Update Your Contact Info.

We want to make sure you are receiving important updates from Roosevelt. If you haven’t already done so, please make sure your contact information is up to date by submitting this form.

Kind Regards,
Roosevelt COVID-19 Response Team

covid19info@roosevelt.edu
Roosevelt COVID-19 Website

Remote Participation Guide for Students @RU

Roosevelt University has created a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. This includes a helpful Student Remote Participation Guide. Please check this site frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students also should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors. All Spring 2020 classes are fully online format for the rest of the Spring 2020 semester.

Students — I hope this note finds you healthy and safe, whether in your home or your RU dorm room. Please continue to take care of yourself and your loved ones during this pandemic crisis. I know keeping up with your classes is a difficult challenge to face on top of everything else. Do your best, but also reach out to your profs if you need help, have questions about the course, or seek flexibility with an assignment due date.

In the meantime — hang in there, get your rest, eat well, stay in as much as possible (except for healthful walks, as you can manage), and do your best to adapt to this strange and disconcerting new reality. I’m (virtually) right there with you, working from my home office at Chez Bryson in Joliet IL, and tending to my own family during this difficult time. If you need help with your studies, internet access, academic advising, etc., please see RU’s Student Remote Participation Guide and other Services on the Covid-19 Response site.

Sincerely,
Prof B

A Note to Students / RU Updates on Covid-19

Roosevelt University has created a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. Please check it frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. RU students should check their student email accounts frequently for announcements from the university as well as their professors. All Spring 2020 classes will resume in fully online format on 3/23.

To my students:

I hope this note finds you healthy and safe, whether in your home or your RU dorm room. Much has changed in these last two+ anxiety-riddled weeks. I’m sure you’ve been checking your RU email and following the university’s Emergency Response Site to get the latest updates on what’s happing at Roosevelt. Please continue to do so — but more importantly, take care of yourself and your loved ones during this pandemic crisis.

I want you to know that I recognize that this is a very stressful and uncertain time for all of us, and I will endeavor to be flexible as the rest of our semester continues. All RU classes are scheduled to recommence online this coming Monday, 3/23. While for many classes this will entail significant and somewhat inconvenient changes, as well as unexpected challenges, I am fully confident that in our SUST 101, 220, and 340 courses we will have a rich learning experience for the remainder of our course.

Today I simply wanted to check in with you, send you general words of encouragement, and invite you to email me questions if you have them. I will also set up “Water Cooler” discussion forums in all my Bb sites for general conversation and course-related questions for each class.We will endeavor to create and maintain a sense of community online as best we can.

In the meantime — hang in there, get your rest, eat well, stay in as much as possible (except for healthful walks, as you can manage), and do your best to adapt to this strange and disconcerting new reality. I’ll be (virtually) right there with you, working from my home office at Chez Bryson in Joliet IL, and tending to my own family during this difficult time. If you need help with your studies, internet access, academic advising, etc., please see RU’s Student Remote Participation Guide and other Services on the Covid-19 Response site.

Sincerely,
Prof B

The following is quoted directly from the latest post on the RU coronoavirus site, as of 3:24pm on 20 March 2020.

Dear Roosevelt Community,

Today [Friday 3/20] at 3:00pm Governor Pritzker has issued a ‘Stay At Home’ order for Illinois residents effective Saturday, March 21 at 5pm through Tuesday, April 7.  Keep in mind, while this is a serious mandate to protect ourselves, families, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens, residents can still go to the grocery stores and pharmacies and put gas in their cars.  All local roads, including interstate highways and tollways will remain open to traffic.

Illinois’s Stay At Home Order

The order allows the following to remain open:

  • Essential services to continue: healthcare operations, grocery stores, food banks, convenience stores and other establishments engaged in retail sale of canned food, dry goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, pet supply, fresh meats, fish and poultry, and other household consumer products
  • Operation of gas stations, auto supply and repair businesses
  • Banks and other financial institutions
  • Hardware stores
  • Restaurants that serve food only for deliver and carry-out
  • Home-based care for seniors, adults and children
  • Laundromats, drycleaners
  • Mailing and shipping services and other

Social Distancing at Roosevelt

Here at Roosevelt we have already been taking those steps by practicing all forms of social distancing, including by moving classes online and providing students with guidance and resources around maintaining their coursework while not in the classroom. In an abundance of caution and social responsibility, we have also canceled or rescheduled a number of scheduled events.

Now that the stay at home order is in effect, we write to provide you with information regarding services and resources that will continue to be available at Roosevelt.

Students in Residence Halls

  • The Wabash Building and the University Center remain open and accessible for all residential students. If you have not notified the office of residence life that you intend to remain in the halls, please do so immediately by emailing reslife@roosevelt.edu.
  • The dining center in both buildings will remain open.
  • Only essential residence life, building maintenance and campus security staff will remain on campus.
  • For a full list of student services that remain available via phone or online, please visit the COVID-19 website.

Classes

  • There will no longer be scheduled in-person classes. All classes will be held online.  Please check Blackboard, your email, and the COVID-19 website for updates.  As previously communicated, online classes will begin as scheduled on Monday, March 23rd.
  • Roosevelt has 24 hour/7 day a week technology support. Go to roosevelt.edu/helpdesk and if you are unable to resolve the issue through knowledge base, you can submit a ticket or call 312.341.HELP (4357).  For Blackboard and Zoom related help email blackboardhelp@rooesvelt.edu.

Payroll

  • Payroll for faculty, administrators and staff will continue to process, as scheduled, and will be paid by direct deposit. If you do not have a direct deposit form on file, please contact Heather Williams at hwilliams15@roosevelt.edu
  • Direct deposit is strongly encouraged and those who have not established direct deposit could experience lengthy delays in getting paid.

Campus Facilities

  • All university buildings and offices are closed, or moving fully online, until further notice, with the exception of the following: campus safety, office of residence life, dining services and university facilities.

What we know today is that we will continue to make decisions in order to keep our community safe and healthy during this local state of emergency.  We will keep you updated on the impact this mandate has on our community as we get the information.

Please continue to visit this site for all the information, updates and resources and email us at COVID19info@roosevelt.edu if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Ali R. Malekzadeh, Ph.D.
President

Lois Becker, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

3/12 Update: RU Classes Postponed Until Mon 3/23

Roosevelt University has posted a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. Please check it frequently for new information on classes and campus operations. The following is quoted directly from the latest post on this site, as of 8am on 13 March 2020.

To my Spring 2020 students:

  • Classes do not meet next week (3/16-20) for my Chicago Campus-based SUST 101 Humans & Nature and 340 Policy Law & Ethics classes. SUST 101 field trips planned for 3/16 and 3/18 are cancelled. Students should check the Response website above for university updates as well as their RU student email for class-related announcements.
  • My SUST 220 Water online class will have a delayed start as a result of the university’s cancellation of classes next week. This course and all other Term 3B courses will begin on Mon 3/23 (and thus be shortened by 1 week).

While there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus at Roosevelt, the safety and wellbeing of our community is our highest priority. We are taking the following steps to give every member of our community the support and resources to continue uninterrupted access to their academic program in whatever manner is necessary.

Steps that we are taking to achieve these objectives are as follows:

Classes

  • Roosevelt University classes are postponed until Monday, March 23. At that time and until further notice, most classes will be offered online.
  • Accommodations will be made for courses/programs that require in-person course work, as those courses/programs are identified.
  • A student who reports that they need to miss classes for reasons related to COVID-19 must be excused and the absence reported to the VP for Student Affairs. No medical or other documentation regarding the absence is required.

Residence & Dining Halls

  • The University’s residence halls and dining hall will remain accessible at this time, but with restrictions. For your safety and for the safety of the campus community, we are strongly encouraging students who are able to remain home to do that.
  • For students who return or remain in the residence halls, you must notify the Dean of Students Office at dos@roosevelt.edu.

Student & Employee Travel

  • No University-sponsored travel by air is permitted. You are responsible for canceling currently-scheduled travel and making arrangements for refunds.
  • Students and employees currently in and returning from countries with a Level 3 Health Notice must complete 14 days of self-quarantine before returning to campus.

Athletics

  • Roosevelt University is immediately suspending all athletic activities indefinitely. This suspension also pertains to all Roosevelt programs, including spirit squads, eSports and Performing Arts, that were previously offered at Robert Morris University Illinois.
  • This suspension covers all intercollegiate athletics programs and related athletics activities, including all competitions, all practices, and all team meetings.
  • Teams currently on spring break travel and competing in tournament competitions will return from their trips as scheduled and immediately adhere to the suspension of athletics activities. The Robert Morris men’s volleyball team competing at Trinity Christian College tonight (Thursday, March 12, 2020) will compete in the match and adhere to the suspension of athletics activities following the conclusion of the match.
  • Athletics facilities owned, leased or rented by Roosevelt will be closed to students until further notice.

University Operations 

  • Effective immediately, any employee who is in a high risk category is strongly encouraged to work from home or adjust their work schedule to reduce contact with others.
  • Key offices (campus safety, residence life, physical resources, payroll, information technology, and human resources) will remain fully open.
  • Student Offices (all student-facing offices) remain open for visitors with reduced staffing. Each Division head will outline a plan for this with their respective teams.
  • All other offices are highly encouraged to work from home.
  • An employee who reports that they need to miss work for reasons related to COVID-19 must be excused and the absence reported to Human Resources. No medical or other documentation regarding the absence is required.

Roosevelt’s top priority is the health and safety of our community. We remain committed to communicating the most up to date information as frequently as possible.

Ali R. Malekzadeh, Ph.D.
President, Roosevelt University

Lois Becker
Provost, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

3/11 Update on RU Classes & Campus Operations Information

Roosevelt has posted a Coronavirus (Covid-19) Emergence Response website to provide the university community with up-to-date information about this rapidly changing situation. Please check it frequently for new information on classes and campus operations as the University prepares for the end of spring break this week. The following is quoted directly from the latest post on this site, as of 10:30pm on 11 March 2020.

  • Students in my Chicago Campus-based SUST 101 Humans & Nature and 340 Policy Law & Ethics classes should check the Response website above for updates as well as their RU student email for class-related announcements.
  • My SUST 220 Water online class will begin on 17 March, as scheduled.

The University is continually assessing the situation and closely following the recommended guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). Many of you have heard that other colleges and universities are stopping in person classes on campus and moving to remote content delivery options. Our local Public Health officials have not yet advised ceasing in person classes in Chicago and we therefore intend to continue to offer classes in person and Roosevelt will remain fully open.

For now, there are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus at Roosevelt. We are actively monitoring for any suspected or confirmed cases in the Roosevelt community. If there is a confirmed case or a spike in absenteeism, we will follow guidance from the Chicago Department of Public Health, which may include delivering classes exclusively online for a period of time.

Please know that we are taking a very deliberate and informed approach to our response to Coronavirus that considers, among other things, the demographics of our students and employees. We know that you will keep this in mind as you review responses from other entities. For example, as we consider changing the delivery of course content, we are aware and have considered that many of our students do not have personal computers and some lack remote access to the internet. As we consider whether to make changes to our operations, we are considering the well-being of the members of our community at greatest risk for serious infection, including those who are over 60 years of age and those with serious health conditions. In sum, please know that we will never put the health, well-being or safety of our campus community at risk, and that we are weighing all of these important factors as we make decisions for our University.

We have already made several decisions consistent with guidance provided by the CDC and health officials to protect our community:

  1. TASK FORCE CREATION: A COVID-19 Task Force, led by the Dean of our College of Pharmacy, is meeting daily to update the community on any changes in the university’s response to this virus. Please continue to visit our Coronavirus Emergency Response Page for the most up-to-date information.
  2. TRAVEL: We have cancelled all funded overseas travel until further notice and have cancelled student travel by air, with the exception of athletics. Students currently studying abroad are being monitored following CDC guidelines. We continue to follow CDC guidelines for domestic travel and are directing any returning members of our community from level 3 countries to complete 14 days of self-quarantine before returning to campus.
  3. PERSONS AT RISK: We are closely following CDC guidelines for members of our RU family who the CDC considers to be at higher risk. CDC guidance states that people over 60 and those with heart disease, diabetes and lung disease are at greatest risk for serious illness if infected with COVID-19. They are advised follow the advice of the CDC and to consult with their health care providers. The University supports working from home for anyone who needs to do so. CDC Information on high-risk complications.
  4. ONLINE LEARNING: We are developing plans to move all classes online in the event that public health officials recommend cessation of in-class learning. Our Provost is working closely with Deans, Chairs and faculty leaders to use this week – while many of our students are on spring break – to develop plans to ensure that all our students can continue their education and we can deliver on our commitment to provide them the best educational experience possible.

We ask for your help in staying healthy: please stay home and consult with your healthcare provider if you have a cough, a fever or difficulty breathing. Wash your hands frequently, and avoid touching your face.

Thank you again for your understanding and your patience as we work through this unprecedented public health challenge.

Sincerely,

Melissa Hogan, PharmD
Dean, Roosevelt University College of Pharmacy
Chair, Roosevelt University COVID-19 Task Force
mhogan03@roosevelt.edu

Jamar Orr
Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students
dos@roosevelt.edu