Dean Bangsberg Shares New Message For Students

To our OHSU-PSU School of Public Health students,

As I am sure you have heard, this week our two universities made the difficult, but necessary decision that all classes during the 2020 Spring Term, which begins March 30, will be taught remotely. This follows a directive from Governor Kate Brown that all Oregon public colleges and universities suspend in-person classes and move to virtual learning.

I know this entire situation is unsettling and that many of you are facing challenges well beyond your academic studies. I want to assure you that the leadership, faculty, and staff at both Portland State University and at Oregon Health & Science University are committed to you, to your academic success and to the health and well being of you and your loved ones. We are here to support you in any way we can.

I have been meeting daily with my Associate and Assistant Deans and others daily to address what we are going to need to do and how we can support our students, faculty, and staff through this unprecedented period. We are addressing any new issues and challenges as they arise. Faculty and staff at both our partner universities are working tirelessly to address your needs and your questions, and to prepare for the uncertain trajectory ahead.

I want to quickly share with you some valuable new resources that are being created at OHSU and PSU to help clarify information over the next several weeks.

First, OHSU has developed an expanded COVID-19 FAQ site for students as they respond to your inquiries. You’ll also find the link on our own Information & Resources page.

Portland State is putting together a new student guide that will be posted to the PSU home page before the end of the week. The site will tools for remote learning and for Spring Term, including both academic and non-academic resources. I will notify you when that site is posted and, again, we will link to it here.

If you would like to receive counseling support during this anxious time, the OHSU Student Health and Wellness Center and the PSU Student Health and Counseling Center (SHAC) will provide both phone consultations and crisis support. Visit their websites for more services and contact information.

Again, I encourage you to bookmark the SPH website, for updated information on the Information & Resources page, and for news from me. Every day we are adding new resources to help our students both academically and personally. The newest information offers valuable news on PSU housing, OHSU daycare, library resources, and more. You can also follow SPH on Twitter at @publichealthpdx, where we will post my updates, as well as news on how our faculty and students are contributing to public health discussions in this time of COVID-19.

I hope this centralized location for student resources at both OHSU and PSU proves helpful for you. If you have any additional questions we have not addressed or any further resources to share with your SPH community, please submit them by email to sphadmin@pdx.edu. Staff is checking that mailbox regularly in order to address your questions.

I am heartened to hear and see how the SPH community is stepping up to support one another. We can be proud of the School we have built together, and of the wonderful and generous people who are part of it. I know this is a very uncertain time and I thank you all again for your patience as we work to improve information, operations, and logistics under these extraordinary circumstances. We are in this together.

Stay well,

Dean David Bangsberg