While the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga acted quickly to move its spring semester classes to online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chancellor Steven R. Angle announced Thursday that a task force is being established to plan a return to normal operations.
The chancellor has appointed Robert Dooley and Richard Brown to co-chair the fall 2020 task force and has given them a charge to develop creative solutions that can lead to safe and effective scenarios this fall.
The rest of the membership of the task force will be finalized shortly, Chancellor Angle reported.
“I want to thank Dr.
Brown and Dr. Dooley for agreeing to lead this important task force that will coordinate campus efforts to safely resume campus operations this fall,” he said.
Dr. Dooley is the dean of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business and has served the university in the past as interim provost. Dr. Brown is executive vice chancellor of finance and administration and has been a member of the university staff for more than three decades.
Chancellor Angle said the core principles the task force will operate under are to protect the health and safety of faculty, staff and students to provide a high-quality educational experience and to do so with transparency and flexibility.
The chancellor added, “The success of this endeavor will take the commitment and work of the entire UTC community. Our university has risen to the challenge of the coronavirus crisis over the past six weeks, and I am certain we will develop a plan that ensures the quality of the educational experience for our students, while at the same time keeps the health and safety of our entire campus community at the forefront.”