Faculty and Staff COVID-19 Update

Congratulations on making it through the semester! We know it took a lot of work and an intense commitment on your part, and for that, we thank you. We’re working hard to get ready for fall and there will be many updates throughout the summer, so please continue to check your Bradley email and visit the coronavirus website often.

Bradley is Committed to Returning to Campus This Fall

This week Bradley received national attention for its announcement and commitment to resume on-campus classes for the fall 2020 semester while keeping the health and safety of all students, faculty and staff as our top priority. The university is working through several action plans to reinstate campus operations. 

President Standifird sent an email earlier this week with an overview of the scenario plans and those who will lead the committees. As he stated, the Return to Campus team is looking at various campus areas to determine the safest and most efficient means of operation, according to governmental guidelines. Subcommittees are currently considering how to modify classroom setups, laboratory access, common area access, residential living and event protocols in an effort to incorporate physical distancing. Other plans may include hybrid learning, with some instructional elements continuing online while others resume on campus and in smaller class sizes. Bradley has already implemented enhanced cleaning protocols, including the use of disinfectants, specialized equipment and adjusting when and how commonly used surfaces are sterilized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the full release here, read President Standifird’s message here and listen to his interview with WGN here.

Pass/Fail

The window for students to request a change in letter grades to pass/fail will open Monday, May 18, at 8 a.m. CST. Students who started their spring semester in an on-campus program will have until May 20 at 5 p.m. CST to identify those courses they would like to convert their assigned grade to pass/fail. Earlier this week you received an email detailing the process to complete the grade change. You can view the step-by-step details here. One more time, requests must be made via Webster between May 18, at 8 a.m. CST and May 20, at 5 p.m. CST. 

Please familiarize yourself with the process since students may ask you for assistance. Also, please note: grades are due to the Registrar’s office by 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16. 

Returning for the Fall Survey

A brief survey will be emailed to non-graduating students today.  This survey asks students their intention for returning in the fall.  We look forward to seeing all of you in the fall!

Test-optional

Beginning with students applying for fall 2021 enrollment, undergraduate applicants will no longer be required to submit standardized test scores, ACT or SAT, for admission. This decision is a result of a year-long study spent evaluating the accuracy of standardized test scores in predicting success at Bradley. Read more here.

Commencement

Since Commencement won't be held in person this May, Bradley has created several videos as well as an interactive toolkit (complete with Instagram GIF stickers, Zoom backgrounds, printable signs, Facebook frames, augmented reality filters and a Spotify playlist our graduates can use to share their Bradley experience proudly). Graduating seniors should have received an email last week with all of the details for the celebration. You can learn all about the plans at Bradley.edu/commencement. 

BECC Phase 2

Phase two of the Business and Engineering Convergence Center is being suspended due to budget constraints and issues resulting from the pandemic. 

We hope you have an enjoyable summer and we look forward to seeing you all in person soon! 

–Sent to Faculty and Staff on 05/15/2020