We miss our students! That’s the message Transylvania University’s Staff Engagement Team wanted to share with the Pioneer community.
“We were trying to think of a way to show we are here and we will get through this,” explained Madelyn Frost, the SET chair.
What they came up with was a photo collage message shared on the university’s social media accounts during what would traditionally have been Senior Week at the end of the 2019-20 academic year. The collage features members of the staff and faculty holding up letters that spell out a simple message: Transy students, we miss you! #FlyTogether.
“Making a photo collage was a way to bring faculty and staff together to send a message out to our students — to remind them that they’re an integral part of campus, and that they’re important to us,” said Beth Carpenter, SET chair-elect and librarian, who proposed the idea.
“It’s also a reminder of the campus community that we have here, that we’re a group of people from all different walks of life and we all have different things going on during this time of social distancing and isolation, but we all want to come together to be there for our students in any way we can,” she added.
In fact, so many faculty and staff participated that there were enough letters to make two collages. The second will be shared at a later date.
Most Transy students have been away from campus since before an extended spring break, taking classes remotely since March 23. The university announced earlier this month it is reviewing several scenarios for returning to campus for the fall semester, including moving to a modular schedule of classes. An announcement of more specific plans for the 2020-21 academic year is expected in early June.