Above: Charles and Jill Fischer Provost Marie Lynn Miranda
First Day
“While I recognize the importance of attending to the myriad complexities the coronavirus poses, I hope that we will also devote time to collectively developing and advancing our strategic ambitions for the University.” - Provost Marie Lynn Miranda.
Read her full message here.
Eye of the Hurricane
Now in her third day as the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, Marie Lynn Miranda has impeccable academic credentials, deep administrative experience, and a longtime love for Notre Dame. Having played a pivotal role in Rice University’s response to Hurricane Harvey three years ago, she is perfectly positioned to provide similar leadership in our response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A feature-length profile on Provost Miranda is here.
Progress Report
Provost Miranda, EVP Cullinan, and Provost-Emeritus Burish report on progress with classroom assignments, building management, classroom technology, visitors’ policy, and new working groups on behavioral change and emotional support and well-being.
Read the full letter here.
Bias in Pandemic Reporting
A study led by Notre Dame computer science and engineering professor Nitesh Chawla found that the least-biased and scientifically based news sources published less than a quarter of all stories currently available about COVID-19. Meanwhile, sources evaluated as right-leaning, left-leaning or less factual (those that cite questionable sources or share conspiratorial-pseudoscientific information) account for more than 75 percent of all COVID-19 related news stories. Professor Chawla is director of the University's Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society.
Full story here.
How to Weather COVID-19
How does an epidemiologist go about daily life in the midst of a pandemic?
Edwin Michael is an epidemiologist and professor of biological sciences at Notre Dame. He’s the lead investigator on SEIRcast, an online portal developed by researchers at Notre Dame and the University of South Florida. The portal uses data to forecast how hospital services and resources may be impacted during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Full story here.
NBC Nightly News
“Rooted in faith and guided by science…” – NBC Chief Education Correspondent Rehema Ellis
Full story here.
NBC Today Show
NBC Nightly News initially sought to include Notre Dame in a segment that included other universities, and instead opted to focus on ND exclusively last week. On Wednesday, NBC’s Today Show aired a multi-campus segment on re-opening, leading with the University of Maryland and then using Father Jenkins and Notre Dame again, plus an ND student and his mother.
“It is up to us to look out for people with vulnerabilities...”—Alessandro Contreras ND ’22
Full story here.
Paul J. Browne is the vice president for public affairs and communications