Monday, March 18, 2024

Index

Event Announcements

Keeping Track of Auggies

Classifieds

Public Safety and Facilities Announcements

Riverside Ave Traffic Impacts Due to Steam Line Work

submitted by farrisr@augsburg.edu

Starting this week, our steam provider, Cordia, will replace the steam line below Riverside Ave. The project is expected to take 2–4 weeks with lane closures starting on the south side of Riverside. We do not expect any impacts to heating or hot water on campus, but traffic and sidewalk access along Riverside will be affected by the construction during this period.

Updated Guidance for COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Viruses

submitted by farrisr@augsburg.edu

On March 1, 2024, the CDC released updated respiratory virus guidance in response to the decreasing risk that COVID-19 poses to the population. This updated guidance includes strategies to protect people at highest risk of getting seriously ill and applies to COVID-19 as well as other common viral respiratory illnesses like flu and RSV.

Students, faculty, and staff no longer need to complete the Augsburg self-reporting form following a positive COVID-19 test or exposure. Please follow CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses when you’re sick.

STAY HOME WHEN YOU’RE SICK
Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren’t better explained by another cause, including fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.

WHEN SYMPTOMS IMPROVE
You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, BOTH are true: your symptoms are getting better overall AND You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).

TAKE PRECAUTIONS
When you go back to your normal activities, keep in mind that you may still be able to spread the virus that made you sick, even if you are feeling better. Take added precautions for the next 5 days, such as wearing a high-quality, well-fitting mask and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.

Learn more about preventing the spread of respiratory viruses from the CDC.

Teaching and Learning

GenEd Revision – First Faculty Reading

submitted by boylek@augsburg.edu

Dear Augsburg Community,

Thank you to everyone who attended the February Focused Conversation on General Education Revision. The session was well-attended and we appreciate everyone’s continued engagement on this important initiative.

In the next step of the shared governance process, the general education revision proposal will be formally introduced to the faculty at the upcoming faculty meeting on March 20th. An overview of the shared governance process and a link to the proposal are available below:

Shared Governance Overview
January: Academic Affairs Committee vote (6 in support; 0 opposed; 1 abstention)
February: Faculty Senate vote (10 in support; 1 opposed; 0 abstentions)
March 20th: Faculty first reading
April 10th: Faculty second reading and vote
May: Board of Regents vote

2023 General Education Revision Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OUs01m4YcduyY4EPnGLBxPIpnm8pxBxBSvXeHG9Dz7U/edit?usp=sharing

Information sessions about proposed revisions to our general education curriculum will be offered in early April; details are forthcoming.

With gratitude,
Stacy (freiheit@augsburg.edu)

The General Education Advisory Group (aka GenEd(it) Group)
Amanda Case, Kristen Chamberlain, Jennie Diaz, George Dierberger, Darcey Engen, Salma Caamir, Marah Jacobson, James Vela-McConnell, Stacy Freiheit (GenEd Director)

Resources

GenEd(it) Comment Box:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScLbGTjRopXvqXaW_kqlP-XW7J4sKR64JJT9FpBGSQptWLaSw/viewform?usp=sf_link

General Education Revision 2023 Community Moodle page (self-enrollment is available):
https://moodle.augsburg.edu/community/course/view.php?id=530#section-10

General Education Revision 2023 Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wAwd6cW63GwAQTMUzB-U9ocd7kpZzM7T?usp=sharing

General Announcements

Textbook Affordability Survey

submitted by alexank@augsburg.edu

Textbook Affordability Survey

Students, please take the very short Textbook Affordability Survey sponsored by Augsburg’s Textbook Affordability Working Group.

We are seeking to understand how textbook and course materials costs affect students at Augsburg University. The survey is anonymous, but it does use your email address to ensure that we don’t get duplicate responses.

If you have questions about this survey or the Textbook Affordability Working Group, please contact Karen Alexander, alexank@augsburg.edu, or Sara Fillbrandt, fillbran@augsburg.edu.

Textbook Affordability Survey

John Schwartz ’67 – Obituary and Service Information

submitted by bergc2@augsburg.edu

Memorial services for Regent John N. Schwartz ’67 will be held in Chicago on Saturday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. at Alice Millar Chapel, Northwestern University, 1870 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL and in Minneapolis on Saturday, May 4, at 2:00 p.m. at Augsburg University, Hoversten Chapel, 2211 Riverside Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454.

John’s full obituary is linked below.

Obituary for John N. Schwartz ’67

Online Survey – Chance to Win $100 Gift Card

submitted by fleigr@augsburg.edu

Hello Auggies! I am a graduate student seeking participants for a research study. I am exploring how one’s ability to recognize and regulate their own and others’ emotions may relate to feelings of depression and social disconnect. Participation in this study will involve completing a series of behavioral health inventories and a demographic screener that will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. These inventories will ask if you have experienced symptoms of depression or loneliness and ask how intensely you experience your everyday emotions. Following completion of these inventories, participants will complete a test online that will walk participants through a variety of different tasks, such as recognition of facial expressions and implied social meanings. This test will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. All participation in this study is done online from the comfort of your own home. Students are invited to participate in this study if you: (1) are between the ages of 18 and 31; (2) have not been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, or a personality disorder; (3) have not experienced an interpersonally traumatic life event (i.e., assault by another human being); and (4) are not currently experiencing a major health concern (i.e., life threatening illness/injury or significant transplant/removal surgery).

For your time, participants will be entered into a random lottery drawing for one of three $100 Amazon gift cards!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding participation in this study, please contact me at fleigr@augsburg.edu. If you would like to participate in this study, please click the link below. You will be taken to a secure, online survey where you will be presented with a consent form followed by the demographic screener and brief inventories. Upon completion of these, you will be shown the link to the final assessment.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7LPN7K3

Thank you!

New Staff Positions This Week (3)

submitted by hr@augsburg.edu

The following Augsburg Staff positions were posted within the past 7 days:

03/11/2024: Academic Advisor, TRIO/Student Support Services
https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/AugsburgUniversity-MinneapolisMN/743999973218164-academic-advisor
03/11/2024: Assistant Football Coach
https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/AugsburgUniversity-MinneapolisMN/743999973108473-assistant-football-coach
03/08/2024: Bonner LEAD Fellows Program Manager
https://jobs.smartrecruiters.com/AugsburgUniversity-MinneapolisMN/743999972889913-bonner-lead-fellows-program-manager

Search Augsburg Job Postings

Event Announcements

Keeping Track of Auggies

Augsburg Now Spring 2024 Is Live

submitted by johnsok@augsburg.edu

Read the latest issue of the digital Augsburg Now magazine! You’ll see how Auggies are making a difference in the world—from a professor donating a kidney for a student to an alumna working at the intersection of water, climate change, and conflict. And, of course, you’ll find alumni news, a message from President Paul Pribbenow, and much more.

Augsburg Now Spring 2024

Classifieds