Matt Harmon:
On this episode of Monmouth weekly university, president Patrick Lehe talks about potential plans for an upcoming commencement, the most recent fall semester opening news and the decision to cancel fall athletics. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon. It's time for episode number 15 of Mammouth weekly. Thanks as always for joining us.

Matt Harmon:
Well, we had a couple of weeks in between episodes, but good to be back with you here on Monmouth weekly episode number 15, the coronavirus pandemic, still in a way, wreaking havoc, potentially with any collagen university's plans going across the country. We focus obviously on what is taking place up in west long branch to say good morning to president Patrick Lehe I'm of course, faculty member, Matt Harmon, try and give you the most information that we can in our, uh, weekly, biweekly. Uh, we've kind of scaled it back a little bit in the summertime, but now as things start to ramp up, president Lehe, we've got a lot to talk about after a couple of weeks off. Um, I, I, I do think it would be a good way to get us up and going, um, talking about potential ways to, to in a way close the 20, 20 academic year and some commencement plans.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. Good morning, Matt. Nice to be with you again after a couple week, uh, hiatus, as you suggest, I think we need to get into a more regular routine here, cuz uh, lots of things happening now and in the coming, coming weeks here at Monmouth. Uh, but let me, uh, address your first question and that is, uh, how do we formally close down the 20, 20 academic year? You know, when we announced way back in the springtime that we were gonna go remote for the remainder of the spring semester, we knew that that would affect our graduating seniors in a real material way. Not only that they would have to complete their experience in that fashion, but that it could affect, uh, their commencement ceremonies, which they've worked so hard and earned. Um, from the very start Matt, we've been holding out for the opportunity to do a traditional in person celebration of our student achievements. And we came out early stating our interest in doing that. We've begged for patients as we've waited this pandemic out to try to get to that point. Um, we got to hear the end of July and we decided we had to make a decision as to how exactly we were gonna recognize those achievements. We sent out a survey actually to our senior class, gave them two options. Matt one is a series of in-person ceremonies that would have to be limited by the number of, of, uh, you know, attendees that the state is permitting, which would force us into doing a whole series of them, uh, so much different, but nonetheless, an in-person ceremony or a virtual ceremony in which the entire class could participate followed by a major celebration a year from now at what would be that class's first reunion. So we sent out that survey and the results are in about half of the class participated in the survey and overwhelmingly they have, uh, voted for a series of in-person ceremonies that we will conduct the last, uh, week in August. Uh, these, these will be very different from they, what they expect as has so many things this past couple months, Matt, but at least we will provide an opportunity for all of our 2020 graduates who so choose to come back to campus and to participate in, um, in a, an in person ceremony, they will have to limit significantly the number of guests they can bring maybe even to two, which is very unfortunate, but, uh, is compliant with the state guidelines. Um, they'll have to mask up, they'll have to be seated six feet apart, you know, all, all the, all those different constraints, but at least we will have an opportunity to recognize each individual graduate, invite them onto stage and, uh, to receive their diploma in some fashion or another, some safe fashion or another from me and, uh, uh, commemorate their achievements as our newest graduates,

Matt Harmon:
You know, curious president Lehe, as you talk about the survey that was sent out, um, and in a world where people have so many differing opinions on how things are handled and, and the best way to go about things, how split was the survey or was it pretty, pretty resounding that the students that would be part of the class of 2020 wanted to do something in August as opposed to next year?

Patrick Leahy:
It was pretty resounding. I mean, I think 65% of the respondents, uh, indicated a preference for an in person ceremony, even knowing, uh, how constrained that ceremony might be. So, uh, we've we suspected as much, but we just wanted to make sure that we were engaging our senior class as much as possible. We've tried to stay in very close touch with 'em throughout this whole, uh, spring and summer. Uh, every time the state updated its guidelines and, and lifted their, uh, attendance, uh, numbers, we'd go back to the senior class and ask them, uh, about their interest in hosting a ceremony. And in working with them, they said, let's just keep waiting and see if things open up. And when we got to that 500 limit, that's where we thought there would be an opportunity, uh, to, uh, to host, uh, a series of ceremonies. I think we have 12 schedule. So this will <laugh>, this will be a, uh, commencement season, uh, unlike any we've ever had, uh, 12, uh, ceremonies with 500 or fewer attendees, but it was the, uh, overwhelming sentiment of the class to try to have these, uh, nonetheless in person.

Matt Harmon:
I think that would be great and a great way, uh, to again, wind down the academic year of 2020, and hopefully push ahead with the start of 20, 20 and 2021, uh, speaking of reopening and restarting things. The last time that we spoke, which was a couple weeks ago, I know we went through somewhat of the university's plan to get the university back up and going, uh, come September. I, I, I wouldn't say things have changed. I think that is still, still the plan, but, um, wanna start with still contingent obviously on the state of New Jersey, moving from phase two to phase three, that is still what, what in essence is, is kind of every school in university here in the garden state waiting for a little bit more direction.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, that's the key decision. And, and again, I appreciate the, the, the challenges that, uh, the public health officials throughout the state have in trying to integrate, uh, you know, the self health and safety concerns of our citizens, as well as with, uh, continued reopening of our economy and all those activities that contribute to our economy, like operating a university in person. So I appreciate the challenges, but right now we are still, uh, trapped in a way in stage two. And, uh, we're, it's really contingent upon our ability to get to stage three that would allow for our modified, uh, reopening of the campus. So the plan that we announced, and I think we discussed that a previous podcast is a modified reopening with a mix of online classes and hybrid classes. And in person, uh, we would be allowed to bring students back and have them live with us in our residence halls, eat with us in our dining halls, uh, with a lot, lots of public health, you know, considerations, but that's all predicated on stage three. And if we don't move to stage three, we're gonna have to dial that back. So, uh, we're in conversations right now as to what is the final date at which we would need to decide definitively as a university, uh, whether we execute on our stage two track or whether we can in fact get to our stage three track. And, uh, we'll be talking with state officials, uh, in earnest over the next couple weeks to try to get some clarity on that probably in mid-August having to decide as a university, which track we're gonna execute.

Matt Harmon:
I guess it's one of those. This might be one of these years that starting after labor day as Monmouth traditionally does, might, might be a good thing. And I'm sure it will be a lot of mail biting here as we turn the calendar from July into August and people very unsure and uneasy about what the plan is, but in essence, you and the university and the state of New Jersey, there are still, um, I'd say what two, two and a half, maybe even three weeks before they have to make an actual decision from moving one to the next,

Patrick Leahy:
Very good point, Matt. I mean, this is where our relatively late start could aid us. I mean, we, we have, uh, other colleagues, uh, institutions across the state who are beginning as early as mid-August. So you can imagine the urgency, they feel to get some clarity on this. We don't start until the, the day after labor day in September. So we have built into our schedule a few more weeks, and we're gonna take advantage of those, uh, few more weeks. Um, I, I understand as you point out the, the uncertainty and the anxiety that creates and the, the yearning that people have for clarity, but I think if we give ourselves those couple extra weeks, we can try to make what we think is the best possible decision for all of our constituents. So, uh, yes, the, the little bit later start will aid us in our ability to make a really good decision this year,

Matt Harmon:
You know, for, for lack of a better way to phrase this question. What has been the biggest challenge for you and maybe the rest of the administration in terms of communicating the, the, the different messages? Has it been communicating with faculty and staff? Has it been, uh, incoming students? Has it been parents of incoming students? Um, what, which has maybe been the, the most challenging part during these last couple weeks, especially with the university's plan of, of hoping to get back on campus in September.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. Good question. I mean, this is a challenging time to be communicating at all Matt and, and the reason for that is it's difficult to communicate uncertainty <laugh> if you know what I mean, you know, it's, it's one thing to communicate out. This is exactly what we're gonna do at exactly this time and exactly this way, but we don't have that clarity right now. So what we've tried to do with all those constituents, our faculty and our staff, uh, what I call our sort of internal constituencies, uh, our students, uh, and you know, our most important constituency in many respects, their families, even the surrounding community, uh, here in, uh, long branch, west long branch Monmouth county, they're interested in knowing how we're gonna open because it affects, you know, the local economy and material ways. The challenge for me is sharing as much information as I can without, uh, the perfect clarity. And, um, that's been, the real challenge is saying that this is what we, where we hope to be, but it's contingent upon, you know, the state granting that permission. That's frustrating for some people. And I, I understand that and I appreciate that, but that's been the real challenge

Matt Harmon:
From a perspective of, uh, numbers. I mean, as a, as a private institution and, and you and I have spoken about this and there's been, um, I, I think nothing but transparency about it, Monmouth needs people to be enrolled. Um, and, and I think that at one point there was certainly a concern how the summer numbers would be, I know as summer winds down for all intensive purposes, the summer Monmouth would, would consider still a success, even, even in these kind of crazy times.

Patrick Leahy:
Yes. The, uh, I think the final numbers, the final numbers are in Matt and they're very positive. Uh, we were up, uh, this year, over last year in terms of the number of students participating in summer programming and the number of credits that we offered. Um, so very positive in that regard, uh, right now the fall, uh, still looks pretty positive in terms of the number of students who are registered to return in the fall. But again, we recognize that this year's gonna be very dissimilar than any other year. We can remember typically by July 31st, we have a very good feel for how many students are gonna show up in September this year. Uh, there's still a lot of uncertainty and, and those gonna be a lot of puts and takes throughout the, uh, the month of August. We are losing some housing, uh, contracts, uh, in, in the interest of full disclosure. As students hear more about how much of our programming might be online or, or we're trying to be as accommodating as possible for those students who want to be online, uh, and in doing so, we knew we were gonna lose, uh, some of our housing contracts. So that's decreasing a little bit, but knock on wood. I'm, I'm feeling still at this juncture, pretty positive about the number of students who are expressing interest in coming back to Mout one way or another in the fall.

Matt Harmon:
What's, what's been in your communication with, with students. And I will say parents as well, but more students probably than anything else. What's been the sense that you've gotten from the student population. Uh, has it, has it been that they want to be back in the classroom or has it been a mix of, we're not really sure if we're ready to come back to the classroom yet. So what's the, what's the online situation gonna be?

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, you get a mix of all of all types, and that's why we're trying to be as flexible as we can to accommodate, uh, individual preferences. And, you know, that creates a challenge, um, you know, trying to accommodate those students who wanna be in person and those students who wanna be online, but I can tell you the overwhelming sentiment from our student body is that they want to be back on campus. They, they recognize, I believe the constraints to that. The fact that they'll have to wear masks virtually at all times. I mean, they'll be some outside activity where if social distancing is allow, you know, is feasible, they won't have to wear masks, but otherwise they have to wear masks and they have to be social distance in the classroom. And they're gonna have to take some of their programming online, even if they're back on campus or in a hybrid fashion.

Patrick Leahy:
Um, you know, some of their, uh, uh, related extracurricular or co-curricular activities will be greatly limited, despite all that Matt, we're still hearing, uh, many more students, uh, express an interest in coming back to campus than enrolling entirely online. So we're working with each individual students as their questions emerge, um, especially around their schedules to try to be as, as accommodating as we can moving them into in person classes, if that's what their interests uh, are, or, you know, in those select cases, moving them into more online classes, if, if that's where their preferences are. So it's a challenging time, and I'm very grateful to all of our deans and department chairs and faculty members who are trying to be accommodating to each individual student.

Matt Harmon:
When you think of it, president Lehe, as we, as we talk through episode 15, I can pull up, um, the, the schedule on our web advisor page. And it is certainly a mix of in person online hybrid. Um, the idea of, of the faculty being able to in essence kind of pick what method of delivery is gonna work for them. Um, how has that process been and trying to make sure that there are for students that wanna be in person, there are options for them as opposed to things just being, uh, strictly either hybrid and or online.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. And that's where we're gonna, we're gonna work with each individual students to try to meet his or her preference. You know, we, we gave the, the faculty, the, you know, the, the privilege of determining how they wanted to deliver programming in the fall. And there were a lot of, a lot of factors involved in that in large part, what is the best way a FA individual faculty member can deliver academic programming? I mean, we know that there are gonna be a lot of constraints to, to the physical space here on campus because of those six feet requirements, et cetera. Uh, we wanted a individual faculty members to determine what is the best way for them to deliver high quality academic programming in the fall. A lot of our faculty members have determined that the best way to do that is to deliver online programming. So if a student goes to their web advisor portal and, and sees that more of their courses are online than in person and expressed an interest in moving more of those in person, we're just sort of rapidly responding to that request as much as possible. And trying to reset that schedule and move students into more in person or hybrid courses, it's sometimes, uh, resulting in us having to open up additional sections, uh, for courses. But, uh, we're willing to do that if that's what, uh, students interests are. We've made it very clear to the students, even our residential students, that much of their programming this fall is gonna be delivered online. Anyway, I think they're accepting of that. Um, so it's just a matter of trying to, to, uh, deal with each individual student request, which is the mammoth way, you know, is to try to be as student centered as possible and to try to be as accommodating to their needs as possible.

Matt Harmon:
Some of the latest news involving, uh, the Monmouth community on the athletic side. And I know this was probably a, a difficult decision to make as, as all these decisions have been made, but, but the decision to, um, in essence cancel all fall athletic contests. I know some of the, when I say some, the first being football was, was on campus and doing workouts and, and starting to gear up for potential season. Um, they had lost a couple of games prior to this announcement, but now the news coming that there will be no, uh, athletics at all in, in, in the fall term.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, that is, uh, one of the tougher decisions that, uh, I've had to make through this pandemic. Um, in the spring, when we had to cancel the spring sports, we were right in the throes of it here in New Jersey. So that was a little bit of an easier decision. Matt here. It still revolves around students safety and wellbeing and, and all of those coaches and support staff who, who, uh, dedicate their lives, uh, supporting our student athletes. We still looked out over the course of the fall and decided that, uh, the prudent thing to do would be to try to cancel the fall activities in the hopes that we might revisit those seasons in the spring. I mean, who says you have to play field hockey and soccer and football in the, in the fall. Why, if it's possible, why not offer those seasons in the spring? So we're holding out hope for that. But first things, first Adam, an abundance of caution regarding health and safety, we decided to, uh, cancel the fall seasons. Now, the way this unfolded is I think as you know, we have three different conferences in which we participate through our fall season, the America east, which is, uh, where our field hockey, our first class field hockey program, I might add competes had decided a couple weeks ago that they're not gonna, uh, sponsor fall activities. So field hockey, um, had no choice, but to suspend its activities. Then, uh, I think it was earlier this week, the beginning of this week, the Mac, which, uh, as, you know, sponsors, the majority of our sports had decided that, um, it would make sense for us to suspend fall activities. So that took care of our, uh, men's and women's soccer and our cross country program, the, uh, the, the fall seasons for golf and tennis. Um, so with the Mac canceled and the America east canceled, it leaves only football, which, uh, as you know, competes in the big south, a, an entirely different, uh, athletic conference, we just decided as an institution, Matt, that it just would not be, uh, fair and equitable of us to sponsor football this fall. Even if our conference allowed it and not sponsor all those other sports, we just didn't think it was right. We didn't think it was fair. And so we, uh, made the tough decision to, um, announce to the big south that regardless of whether they're hosting a fall season, um, mammoth at is not gonna participate. It's a very tough decision to make, because as you know, we are the, a defending champion in the big south. Uh, we have another great team coming back this year. I like our chances, uh, this, this year as well. Uh, we just did not feel that it made sense, uh, to sponsor the highest risk athletic activity in the fall after we'd canceled, uh, all of the other, uh, fall activity. So my hope is that, uh, we might also be able to play football, perhaps even in the springtime, but we have to wait on a lot of, lot of feedback yet before we make any decisions like that. First, what the big south is gonna do, ultimately, uh, probably influenced by what the NCAA is gonna do and, and other, uh, football conferences around the country. So, um, we had to walk ourselves into that decision, but, uh, while it's not an entirely popular decision, I, I do believe it is the right thing for the university

Matt Harmon:
W when the message gets delivered, uh, to the student athletes, how, how, how is that method of delivery? Is it, is it, I, I'm imagining just the scenario, you and Dr. McNeil, uh, confirming, and then it goes to the head coaches and then the head coaches deliver it to the athletes, or, or, or do the student athletes here directly from you, um, in a particular case like this.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, it happens pretty quickly. Um, you know, the, the council of presidents in the Mac met, um, on Monday morning and we decided at that point, we were gonna cancel Mac sports, uh, Dr. McNeil and I had already talked about, uh, will that, uh, infl how that would affect football. So we had decided that, yes, we're gonna go ahead and postpone the, the football season as well, immediately got on a call with all of the head coaches, um, in, in athletics, so that, uh, I could break it to them, myself, that this was the decision. And, and really importantly, Matt, this was the rationale for the decision. Uh, our coaches were fantastic. They, I can't say that they, uh, this surprised them in any, in any way, but, uh, they were incredibly supportive, um, and decided that, uh, they would want to talk with their student athletes themselves.

Patrick Leahy:
So they all got on zoom calls, I think within an hour or two of our conversation, so that they could break it to them themselves. And then I made it very clear to our coaches that if you wanted to have a student athlete call so that, uh, they could ask me directly of their questions or share with me any of their concerns that I would want to be available. Uh, I, I said to the coaches, I, I don't wanna hide from this decision in any way. I'm not, I wanna make sure it's clear to our student athletes that I'm not ducking them. If they want to talk with me directly, that they have a right, uh, to do so. Um, so at this point, we've decided it's not, maybe not necessary to, to host a formal call. Uh, I think all the coaches have decided that, uh, this was not a huge surprise. Let's just take the next step. That's what coaches do is what is, what is the next game? And let's get ready for that next game. And, uh, there will be opportunities in the fall for our athletes to continue to train and to develop as student athletes, uh, with the hopes, as I mentioned, that they might be able to, uh, resume formal competition. Next semester,

Matt Harmon:
I've got, uh, two follow up questions to this conversation. As we kind of wrap up episode 15, the first would be much like in the, the spring when student athletes were given an option in essence, by the NCAA to have an extra year of competition, how, how is it gonna be viewed right now, um, in the landscape of, of fall sports, because there is no set, everything is canceled. There, there is potential for some conferences to play and others won't, there are potential options used the big south as an option. They may push forward with their football schedule, but Monmouth won't be a part of it. Hampton, won't be a part of it. How, how do you think, or how do you envision the NCAA ruling on potential players, student athletes that might want to have an extra year of eligibility?

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah, I'm not sure to be quite candid, Matt, uh, we'll have to wait for guidance from the NCAA on that. What we've elected to do as an institution is of course, we will honor all athletic scholarships in large part, because we hope that in this coming academic year, there will be, uh, intercollegiate competition. So we wanna support our student athletes and invite them back to, to, to remain students with that goal in mind. But, but most importantly, we wanna do everything we can to keep our student athletes progressing on their academic journeys. So we, as an institution will support their athletic scholarships regarding continued eligibility will have no choice, but to wait for the NCAA, uh, to weigh in on that, my guess is that they'll demonstrate some flexibility like they did for spring athletics. Um, you know, Matt, you know, this, if you look at divisions one, two and three across the NCAA, um, most of those conferences have canceled fall activities for, for the, for the fall, for the upcoming semester.

Patrick Leahy:
I mean, uh, we have a tendency in a, as a division one institution only to look at the division one landscape. I understand that, but if you look at division two and division three, most of those conferences have suspended fall activity in the hopes that we might be able to compete in the springtime. So I hope with that overwhelming, um, show of, um, you know, safety concerns for our students, that the NCAA will demonstrate some flexibility regardless of what they do, um, at the, uh, you know, FBS level and at the, uh, you know, division one level in general. But I won't know that until the NCAA comes out with some, uh, you know, eligibility updates.

Matt Harmon:
And then the, the last question you say the fall season has been canceled that obviously, at least to me begs the immediate question of so many, so many sports being year round, kind of in the first place or crossing over, uh, from one semester to the next, if you had to have an educated guess, the, the next domino that might fall would be a sport like men's and women's basketball, um, that, you know, you say, if you, if you wanted to say, it's a winner sport, I could understand people saying that, but, but those games typically start the beginning part of November and run all the way through March. So in essence, they're crossing fall, winter end spring. What, what do you think the next step is for a sport that would traditionally be a winner sport?

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. And I'd like to, you know, include in their, you know, our, our indoor track and field, uh, program or swimming program or bowling program. As you know, we, we sponsor 23, uh, division one NCAA, uh, uh, sports. So, um, it's not just basketball, although I know that's, uh, uh, a real high profile one, but, uh, these, these, uh, there are three or four sports that, uh, involve these sort of wraparound seasons. So, um, this'll be relevant to all of them. We've decided at this point that we will look at the winter season as we get closer to the winter season. You know, some institutions, some conferences around the, the country have decided that there's gonna be no athletic activity at all this fall semester. And don't expect a competition to begin again until January. Uh, I can respect that, but that's not a decision we've made in the Mac. Uh, at this point we will look at, uh, the fall, the winter sports later in the fall, you know, probably in September and even in early October and decide whether, uh, activities can begin in those, uh, winter sports, again, based on the best public health information that we can get our hands on at that time. And if that's two or three months away, things could change, uh, pretty significantly between now and then. So we'll just wait on decisions around the, all those winter sports until we get into the fall semester,

Matt Harmon:
President LA, I appreciate your time as always, uh, a lot of information in this latest episode. Um, I'm sure over the course as we kind of hit the ground running in August, we'll get back into our weekly segments and be able to provide hopefully the, the, the best and most up to date information to the Monmouth community. Have a great weekend. And, uh, I'll look forward to talking to you next week in episode 16.

Patrick Leahy:
Yeah. Thanks Matt. Again for everything and, uh, stay well. And I'll talk to you here shortly.

Matt Harmon:
That is episode number 15 of Monmouth weekly. We thank you as always giving us part of your, uh, day and time. Hopefully you're enjoying these. You can reach out to either, uh, myself or president Lehe with comments, any topics that you'd like to hear from, or have us expand on, we'll be happy to do it in future episodes for more updated information on all things, Monmouth related, follow the school on the social media channels and monmouth.edu. Have a great rest of your day.