Dean's Word - Teachers and other employees

Dear Teachers and all FAMU employees,

Welcome to the new academic year.

We are opening it under changed and variable circumstances that affect our personal, professional and study lives in many unprecedented ways. However, aside from the complications, these different modes of operation also offer us an opportunity to rethink the forms of sharing various types of knowledge and skills. And to invent modified or entirely new avenues. I know that this means more work for you in preparation – but I also believe that this way of thinking allows us to develop our instruction in many directions.

If your subject is rated ‘orange’, please think about the health of everyone involved in instruction – yours and that of your students – devising the form of your subjects. In distance teaching, use various forms of interactivity that platforms for distance learning offer; you can assign tasks to small groups on an ongoing basis or lead the instruction as a moderated debate rather than frontal instruction. The heads of your departments and us at the Dean’s office are here for you should you need an advice or want to share your experience – both problematic and examples of good practice. I am confident that despite the current situation we can offer our students high quality and enriching studies.

First and foremost, I wish you and your loved ones good health. I wish you a lot of strength and patience, and I wish for both you and your students to find the upcoming semester inspiring, albeit in entirely new and perhaps unexpected ways.

Andrea Slováková
Dean