May 11, 2020 Update from the Vice President and Dean

Mon May 11 19:23:10 MST 2020

Good evening, everyone -

I am sorry this letter is so late today.

It seems all the talk in the last week has been about "reopening"; reopening our economy and reentry plans for our university. Looking towards this future is essential, but before I talk a little about it - during this last week of the spring semester - I want to recognize and thank you again for all you have done these last eight weeks.

You have worked under circumstances never before faced by anyone at the UA. You have juggled competing priorities as you tried to work at home. You have heard and dealt with heartbreaking stories. As you now wade through a mountain of grading and/or wonder how you will actually do the furlough and pay cut process which started today, I wish I could say we were done. I wish I could say that you got through this, and now you can take a break and the next steps will be easy. But I can't.

We are at the end of the beginning; we don't know what the future holds but it will ask a lot more of us. Your summer plans are shattered, and your concerns and fears are unmitigated. Some of you are worn out. I thank you for your work ethic, commitment, compassion, what you have achieved, your aplomb in the face of frustration and fear and anger. I thank you for how you have supported each other, and me. You have my greatest respect and gratitude and I am proud to be one of us.

A lot will change between now and the start of the fall semester. For many of you, your summer work plans have changed as you think about how you need to position yourself so next semester will not be like this one. Our mission area directors will be working with your unit heads to guide you through in ways specific to your needs. With excellent biosecurity practices, we will get research underway again this summer and you will hear more about this very soon from Parker Antin. Mike Staten will be communicating with you soon on how we will help get teaching online, or in hybrid format, and many other challenges. Jeff Silvertooth and Jeremy Elliott-Engel are working hard on how to get Extension back up. And Mitch McClaran is ensuring the Experiment Station units will be there supporting our three mission areas every step of the way. I want to assure you, though, that as Governor Ducey opens the economy, it will not be "business as usual on day 1" for us. The UA is committed to a safe reentry process for all of us.

This pandemic's medical and economic challenges will continue for another year at least. We will have ups and downs. Our challenges are far from done. We are in the most challenging health marathon and economic shock in almost everyone's living memory. The state budget will take a very hard hit. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report on Friday and the unemployment rate is unlike anything America has experienced since the Great Depression. I know you will be a critical part of Arizona's very needed recovery because we are all job creators. Statewide.

Last year:

  *   each of our teaching FTE not only paid for themselves but also generated an additional $256,516 on average for the UA;
  *   our almost $21M spent on faculty research FTE created 665 additional jobs in our organization and contributed directly to paying 1,236 more UA employees;
  *   the CES operational base budget of $16M funds, spent on the CES' 238 faculty and staff FTE, created 289 more jobs directly on a total of almost $44M and an unknown number of jobs created and protected by the thousands of Arizonans it supports, especially in rural Arizona by "bringing science to bear on practical problems";
  *   the Arizona Experiment Station employees generated ~$5M into their local economies from their total CALS and CES funding of $5M and;
  *   the Arizona Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory created four jobs within the lab, protected jobs in our state's ~10B production animal industries, and supported jobs in companion animal veterinary clinics.

None of this could be done without our support staff.

We will be in the vanguard of the solution for Arizona's families, communities and economy because we can safely bring our labs to full capacity and empower Extension faculty and staff to deliver in-person programs in a way that's safe for all involved. Just as we were when we started higher education in Arizona in 1885.

Best wishes,
Shane

Make our long haul shorter: keep healthy and keep people working-- lead by example to suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

To decrease cortisol’s insidious health affects and avoid burn out, I’m back to regular email practices. Please use URGENT in the subject line of emails to me only if they actually are; when sending URGENT emails outside of our “normal hours” please text me to look at my email. Individual personnel SARS-CoV-2 INFECTION or overt COVID-19 is an IMMEDIATE PERSONNEL WELLBEING issue and must be marked URGENT, just like any other individual personnel wellbeing issues should continue to be.

Please use “Time sensitive” in the subject line of emails when appropriate but DO NOT text me.

Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension
Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Forbes Building, Room 306 | 1140 E. South Campus Drive
P.O. Box 210036 | Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Office: 520-621-7621
sburgess at cals.arizona.edu<mailto:sburgess at cals.arizona.edu>
alvsce.arizona.edu<https://alvsce.arizona.edu/>
cals.arizona.edu<https://cals.arizona.edu/>
twitter<https://twitter.com/UAAgLifeVetExt>

The University of Arizona is located statewide on the ancestral homelands of indigenous peoples.
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