Free COVID At-Home Tests and Booster Info

Emory University strongly recommends that everyone eligible get a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as possible. For more guidance and information about booster shots, please see the Emory Forward website.

FREE Home Tests

The Emory COVID-19 screening program is currently distributing Ellume COVID-19 test kits to take home with you to use over the holidays. The Ellume at-home COVID-19 test kit is an antigen-based test and will be distributed one per person, while supplies last and are available at the university’s testing sites to any Emory faculty, staff, or student up with Emory ID during the screening hours of operation.

A positive test result should be confirmed with a diagnostic PCR test. Any confirmed positive test result is to be reported to Student Health Services (SHS) or the Office of Injury Management (OIM). This test is NOT a replacement for the asymptomatic screening test offered by Emory and does not fulfill any Emory University requirements for testing or requirements for travel. The test kit expires on February 28, 2022, and cannot be used past its expiration date.

Reminder: Fall 2022 Grade Deadlines

Grades for Fall 2022 courses are due as noted below:

• 10 a.m., Thursday, December 16: Graduating seniors and Oxford students
• 10 a.m., Friday, December 17: Graduating Seniors and Oxford Students whose exams were held on December 15.
• 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, December 21: All other grades.

COVID-19 and Academic Continuity for Students

All instructors received information earlier this week regarding preparations for academic continuity for students in the event the ongoing pandemic and the Omicron variant cause potential disruptions to our teaching mission. Both University and College leadership are monitoring the situation and engaged in contingency planning. Two situations that may emerge early in the spring semester include:

Travel Restrictions for International Students

The Office for Undergraduate Education is prepared to work with students who are delayed in their return to campus from their home country due to travel restrictions or a positive COVID-19 test. The advice and direction to these students (and their faculty) will vary based on each set of circumstances, the nature of their delay (temporary or longer term), and the availability of online courses if it becomes apparent a student is unable to arrive on campus within a reasonable timeframe.

Students Entering Isolation or Quarantine

We will have some students enter isolation or quarantine procedures upon their return to campus in January, or during the first few weeks of the spring semester. Please refer to the “Guidance for Instructors Teaching In-Person with Students in Isolation or Quarantine” document all instructors have received. Continue to report students to OUE who notify you that they must isolate or quarantine.

In either case, please consider how you may be able to support a student to continue making academic progress if they are in either of these situations and are unable to attend class.

Deadline Extension to Dec. 20: Spring 2022 Emory Public Scholars Institute

In Spring 2022, the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence and the Emory College Office of Communications will offer the Emory Public Scholars Institute, a four-session curriculum for faculty interested in engaging more deeply with various forms of traditional and new media and public audiences to heighten the profile and influence of their research and scholarship. The curriculum will be activity-oriented and participatory, with workshops focused on helping participants hone their expertise in each topic area.

Emory College faculty are encouraged to apply to participate in the institute. Space is available for faculty from each school who have the potential and interest to contribute meaningfully to public discourses, and who would welcome and benefit from a structured program of guidance and support.

The institute will take place one Friday per month, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The first three institute sessions will be led by teams of experienced Emory faculty and skilled Emory communications professionals, while the fourth session will be led by theater professionals from Dad’s Garage. Apply online here by Monday, December 20. The institute’s four sessions include:

• Communicating with a General Audience
  Friday, Jan 21, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Your Online Identity and Finding Your Comfort Zone in Social Media
  Friday, February 18, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Media Training (or, How to Become an “Expert”)
  Friday, March 18, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Workshop with Dad’s Garage Theater
  Friday, April 22, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.:
  Learn to use improvisational theater techniques to engage non-expert audiences with research and ideas in live settings.

The first three sessions will be offered in a hybrid format – both online and in-person (box lunches will be provided for in-person participants). The fourth session will be offered in-person only. If pandemic conditions necessitate, however, we will pivot to an online only format for all four sessions.

For more information, contact Allison Adams, associate director, research and scholarship, Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, aadam02@emory.edu, or Beverly Cox Clark, director of communications, Emory College of Arts and Science, beverly.clark@emory.edu.

January Deadlines

Faculty Promotion Info Due Jan. 15

Chairs should notify the Office of Faculty (dean_of_faculty@emory.edu) by January 15, 2022 about any tenure-track faculty members who plan to be reviewed for promotion to full Professor during 2022-23. More information is available here. Likewise, chairs and directors should notify the Office of Faculty (dean_of_faculty@emory.edu) by January 15, 2022 about any lecture-track faculty members who plan to be reviewed for promotion to Professor of Pedagogy during 2022-23. More information is available here.

Fox Center 2022-2023 Senior Fellows Program Applications Due Jan. 14

The Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry announces up to four annual internal Fellowships available to tenured members of the Emory University faculty for an academic year of study and residence in the Center. FCHI Senior Fellows will be released from their university teaching and service commitments for the academic year, in addition to receiving a research budget from the Center.

The application deadline is January 14, 2022. The application and more information are available on the Fox Center website. Former Senior Fellowship recipients may reapply after an interval of ten years, although the selection committee will prioritize new applicants.

URC Grant Requests Due Jan. 14

The University Research Committee (URC) is currently accepting applications for 2022-2023 URC grant funding. Regular, continuing full-time faculty are eligible to apply for a URC grant. Policies, guidelines and the application form can be found at URC Policies and Guidelines | Emory University | Atlanta GA. The deadline for submission is January 14, 2022.

WE Impact Circle Accepting Funding Proposals

The Women of Emory (WE) Impact Circle invites faculty, staff, and students to submit funding proposals, for Emory projects and programs that advance the causes of women and girls on campus, in Atlanta, and beyond. Learn more about grant eligibility and submit your application here. Applications will be accepted online through January 27, 2022, with funds to be used in the 2022-2023 academic year.

Leave Requests Due Jan. 31

All faculty requesting a leave of absence in 2022-2023 (pre-tenure, regular, special, parental, medical, sabbatical, and post-tenure – including those that are externally funded or unpaid) need to complete a Qualtrics survey by January 31, 2022. Faculty Leave Request Survey is available here.

The guidelines for leave applications are available on the Office of Faculty website. Please note that the guidelines include an explanation of the requirement that faculty applying for regular sabbaticals and those undergoing tenure review anticipating leaves must also apply for funding from a source external to Emory. A research abstract and a copy of the external application materials will be required as part of the leave request. The guidelines also include a procedure, in exceptional cases, for requesting a waiver from this policy. Please send questions to Dean_of_Faculty@emory.edu.

Pedagogy Mini-grants Available

Emory College offers mini-grants to support Emory College faculty teaching. A mini-grant should be used for an activity directly related to a class you are teaching during the semester. Anyone currently reaching in ECAS is eligible, including tenure-track faculty, lecture-track, adjunct faculty, visiting faculty and graduate students. The request can be up to $350. The link to request funds is Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management.

Call for Temporary Faculty for 2022-2023

Reminder to Department Chairs and Directors: Please submit your temporary faculty requests for next year by February 15, 2022. The Qualtrics link to complete for each instructor is Online Survey Software | Qualtrics Survey Solutions. Please refer to an email from Dean_of_Faculty@emory.edu that you received on December 3 for more details on the process and information required or email Dean_of_Faculty@emory.edu with questions.

Brittain Award Nominations Due Feb. 18

Campus Life has announced that the 2022 M.L. Brittain Award nomination process is open. The award is given annually at Commencement to one undergraduate and one graduate student who have performed the most “significant, meritorious, and devoted service to Emory University.” Fall 2021 or spring 2022 graduates are eligible for nomination. Nomination letters should be submitted to Sandra Edwards, sandra.edwards@emory.edu, by Friday, February 18, 2022. Please see the call for nominations for more information about the award.

2021-2022 Holiday Schedule

Emory University will officially be closed Friday, Dec. 24 – Monday, Jan. 3 through official university holidays and winter recess days. In keeping with College practice, department chairs and other lead administrators may decide whether it is reasonable to also close their departments Monday, Dec 20 – Thursday, Dec 23. However, as a reminder, December 21 is the due date for faculty to submit fall 2021 grades.

If you decide to close your department, it is expected that someone from your department will check departmental messages — phone and e-mail — at least daily, so that anyone trying to reach your department can receive timely assistance.

Should you decide to close your department, each member of your staff must either take vacation leave, or work from home, meaning, in particular, that they must be accessible, and responsive to any appropriate requests. Anyone who will not be available must take vacation time Monday, December 20 - Thursday, December 23. If you have questions about this practice contact Laura Papotto, laura.papotto@emory.edu, for assistance.

Inclement Weather Reminder

Please remind your department about the Emory Closing information/inclement weather hotline, 404-727-1234. Closings and delayed openings also will be posted to the main Emory web homepage, www.emory.edu and across the University’s social media channels.

Please discuss with your department how you will distribute closing information to your staff and faculty should a closing occur. For more information regarding emergency preparedness and response, see the Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) website.

A Feast of Words for 2021: Celebrating Faculty Books

The Feast of Words, the CFDE's annual celebration in honor of faculty authors and editors of books published in the previous academic year, took place again online this year.

In a typical year, the Emory Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, Emory Libraries, and the Emory Barnes and Noble Bookstore host an annual event to celebrate the Emory faculty who have written or edited books in the prior year. This year’s gathering would have been the 18th year of the event, with 1,900 titles celebrated over that time. In lieu of an in-person gathering this year, the following video celebrates Emory faculty books published in the prior academic year, 2020-21, between September 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021. View the video and full list.