Message from the Dean
It’s April 30, 2020, the last day of spring classes at the Mitchell College of Business and the University of South Alabama. It almost seems surreal since we transitioned to online classes six weeks ago and the campus has been empty since. I have to admit that the days are hard to keep straight—I really thought that yesterday was Friday and woke up this morning thinking that today has to be Friday but soon realized that tomorrow is Friday. I could use a morning news feature like the Cleveland’s WJW Channel 8 “What Day is it?”
The students, faculty, and staff did a yeoman’s job of transitioning to the online platform for classes. I want to thank them for making the change as seamless as possible. The spring’s Mitchell Magazine features the experience from the students’, faculty members’, and external constituents’ perspective. If you’d like to be added to the mailing list for the magazine, please email your mailing address to mcob@southalabama.edu.
The transition also has significantly increased our activity in the social media space. Our presence is not new (to follow us, @usamcob on Instagram, @USA_MCOB on Twitter, and @MCOB.USA on Facebook) but the move of the students back home gave us all kinds of opportunity to interact including messages, contests, and update videos. It’s been a fun and learning experience and the students are pleased with our efforts.
As of now, we are planning for the students to return to campus in the fall. Given the myriad of uncertainties associated with the pandemic, we are planning for a number of possible environments in the fall. Members of the administration and faculty have formed several working groups to prepare for August. We are all becoming quite proficient in the use of Zoom. Speaking of which, I’m almost late to a meeting. Until next time,
Bob