Grace Howell ’22. Photo by Ferrum College student Ryann Tyree.
10/5/2021
On Thursday, October 7, Ferrum College senior Grace Howell presented during the 2021 virtual session of Virginia Social Work Education Consortium’s (VSWEC) Student Rally in the Valley conference. Howell’s presentation focused on the intersecting barriers that women of various sexual orientations face in terms of sexual abuse and violence.
“The conference shed a lot of light on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of social work,” said Howell. “I think my research contributed well to the theme of the day. I am glad I had this opportunity!”
Held each fall, Rally in the Valley brings together students within Virginia’s accredited college and university social work programs to focus on current issues. Students choose the theme of the conference, its speakers, and activities. This fall’s partnership is between Ferrum College, George Mason University, and Radford University.
“Grace is an exceptional student and well-respected by her peers,” said Professor of Social Work Martha Haley-Bowling. “She is an excellent presentation choice for Rally in the Valley.”
Howell is from Keysville, VA. She is majoring in social work and currently interns with Child Trust in Roanoke, VA. She also serves as captain of Ferrum’s equestrian team and is the vice president of programming for Delta Phi Epsilon.
Learn more about Ferrum College’s social work program here.
Learn more about the Virginia chapter of the National Association for Social Workers here.
8/13/2021
In celebration of a new semester, Ferrum College is inviting its campus community to an All-Campus Welcome on Monday, August 16. The day’s events, which will be hybrid in nature, will be devoted to getting to know campus members, building community, and connecting with each other.
A link will be provided to the campus community to watch a virtual welcome video prior to returning to campus and participating in the All-Campus Welcome. The video will provide updates about new faces on campus, major projects on the horizon or in the works, and some fun news from each department.
Director of Student Activities Justin Muse ’05 will also host two virtual Kahoot! trivia sessions, with prizes, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Login instructions will be emailed on Monday morning.
The day will close with a 1 p.m. ice cream social in the Panther’s Den on campus. Everyone must follow Ferrum College’s physical distancing protocols and wear masks while inside (except when eating) regardless of vaccination status. The patio will be open for those who wish to be outdoors.
8/12/2021
Students, faculty, staff, and alumni are now able to swipe a new Ferrum College branded bank card, brought to them by Carter Bank & Trust.
The bank has partnered with Varsity Financial Services to bring free online and mobile banking, free bill pay, and free peer-to-peer payments to local colleges and universities. Through this partnership, Ferrum’s campus community can enroll and receive a free Ferrum College branded debit card. The College will also enjoy ongoing revenue to support its teaching priorities.
“Our partnership with Carter Bank & Trust and Varsity Financial Services will provide a necessary service to our students and community, while also benefitting Ferrum College,” said Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Relations Wilson Paine ’07. “This is a great way to show your Panther pride.”
Learn more about Varsity Financial Services here.
8/6/2021
Panther Family:
I hope you are as excited as I am for a new year of connection, growth, and community. There are great opportunities for us in the months ahead, and I am eager to get underway.
As we navigate through this pandemic, it’s more important than ever that we work together to follow the guidelines I am sharing with you today. Many of these guidelines are familiar to us by now, and exercising them together with civility and grace will benefit us all as we continue to live with our new normal.
We are stronger together.
We are ready to welcome the entire Ferrum College family back to campus for the 2021-22 academic year — students, faculty, and staff. We’ll have some challenges along with our opportunities, to be sure, but as we have seen time and again, when we work together as one, we triumph as one.
Last year, our hard work and determination paid off. Together, we kept each other safe and healthy, and we upheld our motto: not self, but others. I am proud of how well we did last year, and while the world is making progress, we are not wholly through this pandemic. I wish we were, but we are not. Thus, we will need to continue caring for each other, so we can continue spending time together.
EFFECTIVE MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
Vaccines
At this time, Ferrum College strongly encourages all members of our campus community to get vaccinated. We will host a vaccination clinic on campus soon, and urge all students, faculty, and staff (who are able) to get vaccinated. You can also find a vaccination location near you here. Vaccinations are available at no cost to you and they are our best defense in stopping the spread of this virus and getting back to normal.
Testing
If you aren’t feeling well, get tested for COVID-19 at a pharmacy or health care provider’s office. If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please refrain from participating in campus activities and get tested. Find a testing location near you here. In the future, additional testing may be required.
Face Coverings
As COVID-19 variants are now impacting both vaccinated and unvaccinated people: all students, employees, and visitors must wear face coverings while indoors at this time – regardless of vaccination status. Face coverings are strongly recommended outdoors when social distancing is not feasible or realistic.
We will communicate adjustments regarding face coverings if they change; we are hopeful vaccinated students and employees will not need to wear face coverings in the near future.
Self-Monitoring
Continue to monitor yourself for symptoms of COVID-19. If you notice symptoms, find a testing site near you right away and get tested. Students contact the Office of Student Life and Engagement. Employees contact Human Resources.
Classes and Campus Life
Most classes at Ferrum have returned to in-person instruction with some protocols from our previous semesters remaining in effect for the Fall. Some classes will be offered online or in a hybrid format. Reasonable accommodations will be available for those who cannot attend in-person due to quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.
Key protocols: Face coverings while indoors and continued practice of social distancing. Face coverings are strongly recommended outdoors when social distancing is not feasible or realistic.
The Dining Hall will be open for indoor dining and takeout options will be available. Dining Services employees and diners will need to follow College protocols regarding face coverings when not eating or drinking.
Events, Visitors, and Athletics
Everyone will be required to wear face coverings during indoor events. For outdoor events where social distancing is not possible, face coverings will be strongly encouraged.
Ferrum College welcomes prospective students and their families, alumni, friends of the college, and vendors to campus. Face coverings are mandatory for all visitors while indoors and are strongly recommended outdoors if social distancing is not possible.
All Ferrum Athletics teams will be competing as scheduled, and student-athletes and athletic staff will follow conference guidance. Currently, spectators are permitted to attend games and must follow Ferrum College’s visitor protocols.
Continued Monitoring
Ferrum College will continue to monitor and adjust protocols based on campus and regional COVID-19 activity, as well as recommendations from the CDC, local department of health, and the Governor’s Office.
I want to thank you all in advance for your help with these guidelines.
We all want to return to normal as quickly as possible, and we are nearly there — in person classes, athletics, campus events and activities; it is awesome to be back together! Let’s work together to squash this virus and maintain a campus environment that is safe and healthy for the entire Panther family. I strongly encourage all faculty, staff, and students to be vaccinated to help us avoid additional restrictions. We are always stronger together, and I am looking forward to a dynamic and rewarding academic year.
Sincerely,
David L. Johns, Ph.D.
President
Learn more about Ferrum College’s plans for fall semester 2021 by visiting www.ferrum.edu/stronger-together.
7/8/2021
Ferrum College is pleased to announce that its campus is once again open to the public. This reopening comes after the May 2021 guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which updated COVID-19 safety protocols for vaccinated individuals.
While the College is not requiring students, faculty, or staff to receive the vaccination at this time, President David Johns said that the institution is strongly encouraging it. Ferrum has joined the White House COVID-19 College Vaccination Challenge which seeks to vaccinate as many young adults as possible prior to them returning to campus for fall classes. This means that Ferrum has committed to taking the following action against the virus: engaging every student, faculty, and staff member by providing resources to get vaccinated; organizing its college community by implementing a vaccination plan; and delivering vaccine access for all.
“We will definitely host at least one flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinic on campus, ideally in early September, where students, faculty, staff, and the community can get either or both vaccinations,” explained Dean of Student Life and Pandemic Coordinator Nicole Lenez. “Or if it is easier for a community member to get vaccinated elsewhere, we’ll help them find a clinic. All they need to do is reach out to our Student Life office by calling (540) 365-4461 or emailing studentlife@ferrum.edu.”
More information about upcoming vaccination clinics will be available in the near future.
Additionally, the College is preparing for fall courses to begin on August 23. The semester will offer 14-week courses as well as two seven-week sessions, with all courses ending on November 23 prior to the Thanksgiving holiday break. The majority of courses will be delivered in the classroom (face-to-face) or through a hybrid method (50 percent virtual, 50 percent in-person). Ferrum faculty have completed an intensive online teaching certification to provide high-quality instruction both in the classroom and online.
On campus, physical distancing will be encouraged and sanitizing protocols will be maintained, including twice-daily disinfection of high-touch areas like light switches, bathrooms, and door handles. The College will not require masks indoors for individuals who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Likewise, masks will not be mandated for anyone attending outdoor events unless three feet of distance cannot be maintained.
Athletics will return to normal competition this fall, with Panther football taking on Averett University on Ferrum’s campus on September 4 at 6 p.m. For more updates, check the official Ferrum College athletic website.
“The pandemic’s most pernicious work has been to separate us, keeping us from many of the things and people we enjoy,” wrote Johns in a campus-wide email. “What we learned so well over this past year will help us as we prepare for the year ahead: we are always stronger together.”
View Ferrum College’s plan for the 2021-22 academic year, and sign up to receive news and updates, on the Stronger Together website.
Learn more about the White House COVID-19 College Vaccination Challenge by visiting here.
(August 5, 2020) After COVID . . . What?
What awaits on the other side of COVID-19? We have all thought about it, whether out of weariness or a need to plan ahead. But, while we have imagined it, an answer is nowhere in sight.
It seems premature to ask the question because no one knows where we are on the timeline of the pandemic. If we have a vaccine in early 2021, five or six months from now, then at best we are only half way through. But are we closer to the end of the middle, or God forbid, the beginning? Regardless, it is worth thinking about what lies beyond COVID-19 since, sooner or later, we will be there.
I have two concerns and two hopes as I think about our Post-COVID future.
My first concern is that social distancing will lead to social isolation.
We need to maintain physical distance to slow the spread of the virus. In order to do so, many businesses have sent employees home, schools have transitioned to online instruction, and communities have postponed or canceled events that often bring us together.
But distance leads to isolation when we forget the simple acts of common life. We have learned over the last few months that many of our regular activities and meetings can be conducted virtually. But how can we assure that community life thrives, and how can we be sure we are building a Post-pandemic life worth living?
My second concern is that by the time we reach the other side of COVID-19, we will have become an America fractured beyond recognition. Between daily gaslighting and politicizing this pandemic, a wedge is being driven into an already cavernous divide. The wedge is between two impulses at the heart of the American psyche – compassion for the Other, and individual liberty.
At our best, Americans are generous people. We are present during crises at home and abroad, and we have given much for the sake of others. Yet, Americans can be stubbornly independent, regarding liberty as a license to do anything we want. Generally, we balance both impulses according to circumstance and need, but this wedge causes extremism leaving little room for compromise or restraint.
Yet, in spite of these concerns, I have two hopes.
First, many things that were important a half year ago, seem less so today. The pandemic has kept us close to home, close to family, and close to those things as the center of our lives. Some of what consumed our time and resources, have faded into the background.
It can takes years to achieve the pared down lifestyle thrust upon us in just a few months. While it was uninvited and threw us off balance, we are living reprioritized lives, a little more grounded, and a lot less distracted.
Thus, my first hope is that we maintain this hard eared perspective; if we can, then we will have gained something meaningful in exchange for the havoc this pandemic has brought us.
My second hope is that COVID-19 will renew our commitment to each other and to the common good.
We have been reminded that airborne pathogens do not seek permission before crossing barriers we erect. We have learned that reckless personal conduct causes lasting damage. And, we are learning that simple gestures, like wearing a mask in public, saves lives and slows a virus.
Much of what makes our communities livable, from good roads, to schools and parks, to clean water, to healthcare are goods that benefit us all. Our wellbeing is wrapped up together, so if we want a good life for ourselves after COVID-19, we need to invest in each other. Our lives may run in different directions, but we all breathe the same air.
I’m not sure what lies on the other side of COVID-19, but whatever it is, it will not be something that simply happens to us. That’s not the way the future works. The future is something we create through our passion, our imagination, and our commitment.
So, while it may seem a little early to speculate about what comes after COVID-19, we have work to do now. Allowing isolation and division to flourish will result in a future worse than any pandemic; however, if we stay grounded in what is important and lasting, and if we focus on the goods common to us all, we will build a Post-COVID future worth living.
This column by President David Johns appeared in The Roanoke Times and The Franklin News-Post. President Johns may be reached at president@ferrum.edu.
President David Johns updated the campus community regarding plans for fall 2020 in the letter, below.
Dear Ferrum Family,
On Saturday, May 9, we honored 200 graduates at our first ever virtual commencement ceremony. I am proud of our faculty, staff, and especially our students who showed remarkable perseverance this semester to reach this milestone. Although it was not the commencement any of us expected, it was nevertheless filled with joy, celebration, reflection, and hope as the class of 2020 turned its sights toward the future.
At Ferrum College, we are also looking toward the future, and have already begun planning for Fall 2020. While the COVID-19 crisis will alter higher education for the foreseeable future, we are committed to our mission of providing an educational experience that fosters intellectual curiosity and prepares students for meaningful lives and careers.
To that end, I am pleased to announce that we intend to reopen our campus this fall, to offer on-site instruction, and provide a residential experience for our students.
We are in the process of developing social distancing and safety protocols to ensure a safe campus environment, and we will continue to seek the guidance of our public health experts. While we are optimistic about returning to campus, we will not do anything to jeopardize the health and well-being of our students and community; thus we will provide regular updates throughout the summer about returning to campus, housing, athletics, classes, and more.
To provide more flexibility, fall semester will be divided into two terms, with classes beginning on August 25. Students will receive detailed information pertaining to their fall course registrations in the coming weeks.
Other changes will include:
This is an unprecedented time for many of us, but it is not unprecedented for our College. Founded on the eve of World War I, Ferrum has endured challenging times since its inception. And for over 100 years Ferrum responded to times of uncertainty with resilience (#FerrumMeansIron), commitment to each other (#NotSelfButOthers), and strength (#FerrumStrong).
The grit and determination that has sustained us in the past will carry us into the future. The values that have inspired the Ferrum Family for decades, inspire us still. We have not so much encountered an obstacle these past few months, as we have reached a turning point; this fall we begin a new chapter in the Ferrum story, and I invite each of you to be part of it.
With Panther Pride,
David L. Johns, Ph.D.
President
