First, let me say how much I appreciate everyone’s continued patience as we work together to overcome the significant disruption caused by the network security incident.  In difficult times, family takes care of family, and this is certainly one of those times.  Despite the frustrations and difficulties, faculty and staff have been innovative and persistent, and students resilient in continuing their coursework.

While I know progress on restoration has seemed slow, behind the scenes there are teams of people working very hard to make sure all our systems are brought back online with enhanced access security as soon as safely possible.  While it is not necessarily where it can be easily seen, good progress is being made, and as a result, we believe significant improvements will soon be made in our information technology services. In fact, as many already know, Wi-Fi has been restored in the union, library, and all residence halls as of last night.

I ask that everyone trust we will be fair and compassionate as we work to minimize any impact from the network incident on students’ classes and grades.  An Academic Continuity Plan has been implemented to help ensure students can continue making progress in their classes.  Instructors are working to implement the Plan as it applies to their courses and will communicate any changes needed in classes directly to students.  I encourage students to continue attending classes and completing assignments, and to let instructors know if any problems are experienced with changes that may have been made to classes.  The FAQs referenced below provide additional information on what students should do if there is any difficulty communicating with an instructor.

We are also adjusting some key semester dates:

• Last day to withdraw is moved from March 31 to April 28
• Last day to withdraw from Term 2 classes is also April 28
• Term 1 classes have been extended by one week from March 8 to March 14
• Term 1 finals have been moved from March 9-13 to March 15-16
• Term 2 classes start date is moved from March 14 to March 20

Please note these changes have been implemented and will soon be reflected in the current academic calendar on Southeastern’s website.  Additional calendar adjustments (e.g., academic checkpoints, priority registration, etc.) will be made and communicated later.

I know the recent network issues have been challenging, and we hear and are paying attention to comments and concerns.  Accordingly, we have created a brief FAQ/Resource page to help provide answers to commonly asked questions.

We are all in this together.  I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Thank you!

John L. Crain
President