the College of Sciences organized a Town Hall Meeting with all of the NSCM Faculty and Staff? This virtual meeting is happening tomorrow July 14, 2020, from 1 - 2:30 p.m. 

A Zoom Invitation was sent to your work email; if you didn't receive it, please email Jackie Gomez or Maggie Leclair. 

Now you know!

• Digital Learning — FMC Open for In-Person Appointments
• Guidelines for Receiving COVID Tests, Reporting Results
• UCF Offices to Remain At or Below 30 Percent Capacity

Texts and Technology at UCF is hosting two virtual conferences this summer, both of which focus on the fusion of humanities questions with critical examination and playful exploration of the potential of technology. The five plenary sessions are open to the public and free to attend. 

On July 13-15, the ACM Hypertext + Social Media conference includes research on all aspects of the modern web. The conference theme, “Hypertext for Social Good,” brings an interdisciplinary perspective to the pressing challenges and opportunities presented by the web today. 

On July 16-18, the Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020 includes playful interactive work (such as games, augmented/virtual reality, and hybrid physical-digital installation pieces) as well as narrative experiences built to take advantage of the full potential of screens.

Learn more about the plenary sessions and how to attend at https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/acm-elo-conferences-plenary or here.

I hope you are well and staying safe this summer. I am writing inviting the NSCM faculty to support a proposal for a new NCA interest group - Communication Anxiety and Apprehension. 

This new interest group celebrates a community of scholarship, inquiry, and support for communication anxiety and apprehension throughout our discipline with the goal of learning more to create Best Practices, foster collaboration among interest groups and intentionally provide visibility and voice for our students and community members who deal with these challenges in a variety of situations and contexts. This new Division is a reimagining and expanding of the former Communication Apprehension and Competence Division that was disbanded in 2017 due to low enrollment and was not supported during the legislative Assembly in 2018.

Allow me to highlight that our professional association is investing more time and attention to these issues as our May 2020 edition of Spectra focused on "Communication & Mental Health on campus" and 2 of the 6 of our NCA "Concepts in Communication" video series explore Speech Anxiety. I suspect we all experienced heightened stress and anxiety caused by the coronavirus pandemic during the spring term and it appears we will do so for the foreseeable future. 

I think the time is right to support a new Division with a focus on these important experiences. If you would like more information, the formal proposal for the Executive Committee is ready and, though I cannot attach it here, I am more than happy to share that with anyone interested.  

200 signatures of current NCA members are required to then submit the proposal for consideration by the Executive Council and I invite you to consider offering your support. A link to a Qualtrics survey that will serve as the electronic petition is below and your support would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and be well!

https://utk.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5Bz9HQFwTxXR1lz

What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)?

We assist college and university employees with their federal student loans on a daily basis. This program is designed to help eligible personnel eliminate their student debt in ten years, while remaining in their current career.

Find out if you qualify: 866-721-2055

All it takes is a phone to determine if you are eligible, and then we'll guide you through the application process so you can start as soon as possible.

Please note this is only available to Faculty and Staff.

Because of COVID, this year some ROTC training will occasionally cause cadets to miss scheduled classes. I will ask the ROTC programs to make certain that the students notify their faculty in advance. Faculty will need to excuse these absences and give students a reasonable way to make up coursework that they miss, in line with the policy for authorized university activities in here.

Provost Mike Johnson wants everyone to know about this because it is a change from the past. Some details are in this letter. Please share with your colleagues so they are aware that they must excuse these absences.