Message to USC Iovine and Young Academy Faculty, Staff, and Students

From: Charles F. Zukoski, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

On behalf of President Folt, I am pleased to announce that we will welcome Dr. Thanassis Rikakis as dean of the USC Iovine and Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, effective August 23, 2021...

Provost Memo: Introducing Thanassis Rikakis as IYA Dean

I write to you to express shock and sadness at the horrific attacks in Atlanta that resulted in the deaths of eight people, including six Asian women. As President Folt wrote clearly and definitively in her memo of March 19th, USC stands with the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) community in condemning these hateful acts, as well as the alarming rise in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. The Academy, too, stands in solidarity with all who have been affected by these tragic events, and denounces all forms of racism, misogyny, bigotry, and xenophobia.

Our community was founded on and is committed to upholding the principles of inclusivity, diversity, and respect for others. We have always sought to create an environment in which all feel welcome, safe, and free to reach their fullest potential. Uniqueness and individualism are among our greatest gifts as human beings, and as a community we will continue to stand firm against any and all threats to the promises inherent in these ideals. 

I know many of you may be feeling confused, afraid, angry, and outraged. The Academy is here to support you in any way we can. Should you feel the need to seek help, I also want to encourage you to reach out to the USC resources below: 

Student Counseling and Mental Health Services 

Students, faculty and staff can report incidents of bias and discrimination via the USC Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX.

CC: 
 Davina Wolter, Diversity Liaison, IDEA Initiatives
 Tanisha Senaratne, Coordinator, IDEA Initiatives
 Jessica Vernon, Associate Dean
 Patrick Dent, Associate Dean
 Raul Petris, Associate Dean

Standing with the APIDA community

With the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in California, we are carefully monitoring public health conditions in Los Angeles and continuing to take steps that relate to the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff.

At this time, the Academy is continuing to work toward the plan to provide in-person academic instruction this fall. As we do this, the health and safety of our community is paramount, and we are implementing protocols and guidelines provided to us by the university, city, state, and CDC. As was confirmed in the July 15 COVID-19 Health Advisory from the Office of Student Health, when practiced diligently, these measures have been effective in preventing the spread of the illness.

We do want to reiterate for all students that, in addition to courses offered fully online, all-online options remain available for courses currently scheduled for in-person class sessions. As was clarified previously, in the cases of ACAD 376 Discerning and Making and ACAD 240 Materials, while we are unable to offer these courses online, students may opt to delay taking them to a later semester while still staying on track for graduation. All students, including students who will be either on campus or commuting to campus in the fall, are welcome to select these options on a course by course basis.

For planning purposes and to assist our faculty in preparing the student learning experience, we are asking students who are already intending to go fully online in a course that is currently scheduled for in-person class sessions to officially opt-in to the all-online modality through surveys that will go out to students from our faculty this week. Students who select this option now will be able to change their selection at any time, as will students who are currently opting for in-person. IYA majors will also receive a more generic survey from IYA Student Affairs. WE URGE YOU TO PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL REGULARLY AND RESPOND TO EACH SURVEY WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIPT. Faculty and staff are working hard on your behalf, and this is an important time as they work to finalize your fall experience.

In addition to the safety measures discussed above, faculty are continuing to creatively apply and maximize all learning modalities — in-person, online, or mixed — based on course needs and what works best for learning outcomes. For example, faculty may opt to take individual class meetings planned for pure lecture or presentation online for that day, to allow students to attend the lecture/presentation without the need to be masked or distanced, or to offer access to additional guest faculty and/or student and alumni reviewers. Such efforts will allow in-class and in-studio making days to be prioritized for IYH facilities as needed, while reducing overall numbers in the building on a week-by-week basis. Reducing overall building density allows us to offer more available off-hours working space for our students, and greater individual options for access to cohort studios, conference rooms, and the Creator and Mixed Reality Studios.

We appreciate your ongoing understanding of the fluidity of this situation, and the classic IYA adapt- and-overcome mindset you have shown throughout these challenges. As you have seen, plans can change at a moment’s notice, but our commitment to providing our students the highest academic experience remains constant. In the event we are required by university and city officials to modify our plans again, we will notify our community as soon as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Academy’s Student Affairs team.

Be well, stay safe, and continue to Fight On!

Letter to Students: Covid-19 Learning Update

I hope this finds you all well and safe, and enjoying a beautiful summer.

We know that many of you have additional questions about the Fall after reading Provost Zukowki’s letter from July 1st. I am writing to update you on our progress and current plans for launching Academy fall classes, and hope once again to reassure you about what has remained the same for the Academy, and the careful adjustments we will be making based on this latest guidance from the university.

First, I want to reiterate that the health and safety of our community is paramount, and we have been working diligently over the past months to align with all guidelines and recommendations, while adjusting our curriculum and our facilities as needed to also maintain the core of the Academy experience.

As we wrote to our majors in June, the Academy learning experience relies on group and team communication, collaboration, and making. The university understands the special nature of our programs and is allowing us to continue to plan for instruction that provides our students with many of the same unique opportunities that are the hallmarks of an Academy education. All instruction plans include strict protocols for maintaining recommended safety practices and procedures.

The provost’s July 1st letter explained that, while the majority of coursework across the university will be moving online, courses that are reliant on specialized facilities or performance-based experiences will still be offered on campus. The letter specifically stated: We anticipate that 10-20 percent of our classes will be conducted in person, on campus. These will be primarily face-to-face labs, studios, performance, and other courses involving hands-on work, and independent research studies that require facilities and equipment only available on campus.

1. In accordance with the above, ACAD courses that rely on access to specialized equipment in maker facilities, design studios, workshops and labs will still be offered on campus in IYH, in two instructional modalities:

All sessions on the ground in IYH, with online options available for distanced students in all classes, excluding ACAD 376 Discerning and Making and ACAD 240 Materials: Denim to Nanotubes (see below).

‘Hybrid’ sessions, with students alternating on-the-ground sessions with online sessions as course needs and safety dictate. Hybrid courses will also be available fully online for distanced students.

2. Also in alignment with the most recent guidelines from the university, to maximize availability of IYH facilities for classes that require them, and learning outcomes and ease of access to classes that don’t, we will be moving some of our undergraduate requirements and electives to all-online modalities, with no on-campus component. Specifically, we feel that students in the following courses will have a better and more fluid educational experience online, without the need for masks, distancing, and density caps:

ACAD 176 Rapid Visualization: Sect. 10242

ACAD 188 Digital Toolbox: Modeling Products I

ACAD 499 Story Building for Inventors and Entrepreneurs.

As of the writing of this letter, one additional IYA minor program requirement that may not require access to IYH facilities is under consideration for a move to online. As we work to ensure the best possible experience for all our students, we will update you as soon as we can on any additions to the list above.

3. As referenced in 1. above, we have determined that we will not be able to offer an online-only option for distanced students in ACAD 376 Discerning and Making and ACAD 240 Materials: Denim to Nanotubes. These classes offer unusually high levels of applied learning and require field and lab work that can’t be easily duplicated online. Both courses will run on campus only in Fall 2020. For sophomores, ACAD 240 will be available again in Spring 2021, and juniors will be able to complete ACAD 376 in Fall 2021 (concurrent with ACAD 475a Garage Experience). Options to replace ACAD 376 with Industry and Impact Labs, and other industry-focused experiences are also available, and can be discussed with your advisor.

1. As we wrote on June 23 in our letter to Academy majors, all IYH facilities are planned to be operating, with carefully scheduled access for classes and individual students to the Creator and Mixed Reality studios that follows recommended guidelines for safe use of spaces. IYH will not be open to the general public, and overall building density is planned to be reduced in alignment with recommended safety protocols.

2. Currently, all classrooms, student conference rooms, maker facilities, and communal spaces have been set up for appropriate distancing and density caps, and the school will continue to comply with all recommended guidelines for cleaning and other measures designed to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff. We have complete layouts, floor plans, flow charts and procedures for all spaces based on the most current university guidelines, and will be adjusting as necessary as we get closer to the fall, and are able to finalize plans based on the most recent updates and recommended protocols.

Once again, we are working hard to ensure a great academic experience for all of you this fall. We appreciate your understanding of the constraints under which we are operating, as well as the fluidity of the ongoing situation. As with everything we have done so far, everything we will be able to do in the fall will be based on the guidelines provided to us at that time by the university as they work with the city of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the CDC.

Please reach out to the following members of the Academy Student Affairs team with any additional questions or concerns:

Jessica Vernon, Associate Dean for Admission and Student Affairs (jvernon@usc.edu)
Amber Bradley, Senior Academic Advisor (aebradle@usc.edu)
Bria Bourgeois, Academic Advisor (briabour@usc.edu)

You are all in our thoughts every day. Be well, stay safe, and continue to Fight On!

Covid-19 Update from the Dean

We write with deep sadness and solidarity for the grief and anger so many of us are feeling in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. We stand in support of the African American community, and all those who have been on the front lines of protests nationwide.

Like many of you, we are grieved and searching not just for answers but agency, and the means to finally address the underlying issues that allow such brutal acts to persist against African Americans. In a recent history that includes Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, it is impossible to perceive how we, as a community, can be asked to overcome once again something so horrible — and, yet, we must. Not merely as an act of overcoming, but rather as an act of unifying determination to confront the conditions that continue to allow horrific events like these to take place.

As a school, our diversity makes us better. So, too, does a mindful and deliberate inclusivity that leads to kindness, tolerance, equality, equity and parity. The empathy, and therefore the compassion that arises from a human-centered focus on change can provide the very viewpoint that is essential to envisioning a culture of universal respect, and one that protects the dignity and safety of every individual. As we move forward, truly forward, we, as a school, re-commit ourselves to this long-standing principle, and commit our every resource to making it so.

We are all restless for change. And, as members of this unique community, we know we must drive the change we seek. Further, we know at our core that change can be fragile and temporary, and what must be sought now is a genuine and lasting transformation. We, all of us, together and as individuals must choose to harness anger, sadness and disappointment into new ideas, and new paths to transformational change. And while doing so, remember that the most important choice we make every single day is the choice to see and care for each other as human beings, without bias or limitations, as we are. We are here with you.

Erica Muhl, Dean
Jessica Vernon, Associate Dean for Admission and Student Affairs
Amber Bradley, Assistant Director, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access

Dean's Communiqué

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