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Post-Zoom: shifts in the work space

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As of July 11, 2021, more than 89 percent of Cornell’s Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech campus populations is vaccinated, including more than 10,100 faculty and staff. Only a single case of COVID-19 infection was identified via surveillance testing in the month of June—an encouraging sign as the university looks forward to resuming operations in the fall.

The pandemic reminded us that, in an instant, anything can change. The exact timing differed for each of us, but we can all remember the moment in 2020 when we felt the world shift. Many in-person classes and jobs transitioned to remote status, as we sought to limit the spread of the virus by staying home. Everything from spring break plans to the Summer Olympics was cancelled or postponed. As career and personal plans were put on hold, our sense of control over the future wavered.

Eighteen months later, as many of us plan for a return to in-person work, Cornell has offered its employees a wealth of resources to help with this next big transition. On June 24 and 25, the university hosted a webinar called “Managing the Anxiety of Returning to Onsite Work.” Dr. Gabriel Tornusciolo, assistant director of the Cornell Faculty and Staff Assistance Program (FSAP), shared strategies and tips for coping with anxiety around returning to the workplace.

Whether or not you’re experiencing anxiety about returning to the office, I highly recommend taking an hour to watch. This gave me deeper, valuable insights into the diversity of concerns and sparked some reflection on my own situation. I hope you find it useful too.
—Chris Kelly, graphic designer at Cornell
“Some truths” slide from FSAP webinar
“Some truths” slide from FSAP webinar

On June 24, eCornell hosted Transforming Our Lives Through COVID-19’s Lessons, a keynote focusing on the larger societal shifts which occurred as a result of the pandemic. Four thought leaders from the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (CIHF) highlighted some of the lessons we’ve learned and how these lessons might inform the future. The speakers shared key takeaways from their research on how the pandemic has changed the way we think about work, health, equity, and working and living spaces.

As you envision your own return to in-person life, we hope you find value in these tips and insights from Cornell experts.

Making matters more certain

Screenshot of Gabriel Tornusciolo, assistant director of FSAP
Screenshot of Gabriel Tornusciolo, assistant director of FSAP

Dr. Gabriel Tornusciolo began his talk by reminding the audience about the fears many of us had at the start of the pandemic: Would our families be safe? Would we have enough PPE? Would we lose our jobs? Gabriel pointed out that concerns about our survival and security are near the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Only when these basic needs are met can we move on to addressing needs around self-fulfillment, such as making a career pivot or finding new opportunities for self-growth.

Gabriel asked viewers to think about the big challenges they faced in March 2020 and compare them to the current challenges of returning to work. “If you think about your safety then and now and the demands on you then and now, which is more challenging,” he asked, “leaving or coming back?”

People may want to avoid the workplace, but avoidance over time increases anxiety.
—Gabriel Tornusciolo, assistant director of the Cornell Faculty and Staff Assistance Program
“The power of avoidance” slide from FSAP webinar
“The power of avoidance” slide from FSAP webinar

Gabriel explained that over the past year and a half, many of us have become accustomed to working from home, and that has become our new normal. “The office is a place that was once ordinary but is now challenging,” he said. “We’re being asked to change again. People may want to avoid the workplace, but avoidance over time increases anxiety,” he added.

To counter our tendency to avoid risk (and the workplace), Gabriel suggested a technique known as habituation, or prolonged exposure to that which makes us anxious. “It’s better to start off and decide not to avoid,” he said.

Taking five steps forward

Gabriel shared five strategies to help employees manage their anxiety and ease back into in-person work. The five steps are:

1. Define what is making you anxious

“We got used to it” slide from FSAP webinar
“We got used to it” slide from FSAP webinar

Gabriel said it sometimes take a bit of digging to figure out what the underlying issue is. Possibilities include fear of losing your job, fears for your safety, fears around loss of freedom, or fears around the meaningfulness of your work. “As you worked from home, you had to consider your values,” he said. “What do you truly want from life? I suggest that you ponder this a bit,” he suggested.

 

 

 

 

2. Define the landscape of your workplace

Landscape slide from FSAP webinar
“Landscape” slide from FSAP webinar

This includes your work hours, the layout of the physical space, measures to ensure worker safety, and employer policies about medical leaves and working from home. Gabriel encouraged viewers to access reliable information to help manage your anxiety, from sources like employer websites and supervisors. Gabriel suggested that employees write an email to their supervisors to share their concerns and potential solutions. He advised employees to “be prepared with concrete suggestions,” and supervisors to “create real two-way communication,” involving candid conversations and active listening.

 

 

 

3. Define a roadmap for your return to work

“A good plan” slide from FSAP presentation
“A good plan” slide from FSAP presentation

Gabriel encouraged viewers to be like Spock on Star Trek, and “lean into your curious, cognitive, intellectual side as you examine whether there’s any proof to back up your fear.” He suggested making a plan that includes exposure to the various components of a typical workday. “Begin to experience your onsite workday now,” he said. “Take the bus or drive to the parking lot, dress in work attire, visit the office to see the space. Identify points of anxiety and you may come up with some simple solutions,” he added. For example, if you’re worried about making lunch without having access to your home kitchen, Gabriel suggested thinking through how to bring foods you enjoy to work.

 

 

 

3. Find the good in returning to onsite work

Analysis of collaboration activity across Microsoft 365 tools from February 2020 to February 2021, from Microsoft’s report, “The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready?”
Analysis of collaboration activity across Microsoft 365 tools from February 2020 to February 2021, from Microsoft’s report, “The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready?”

Gabriel shared several positive outcomes associated with returning to onsite workplaces. These include easier communication and collaboration among team members, more positive social interactions, an increase in alone time (time away from family), and a reduction in work hours. “About 70 percent of remote workers work on weekends,” Gabriel said, and 45 percent of them work more hours. “It’s clear we’re working more hours, and in the long-term that can be negative,” he added. In a 2021 report, Microsoft found that time devoted to meetings each week has more than doubled for Teams users since February 2020, and 41% of the entire global workforce could be considering handing in their resignation.

4. Engage in stress-reducing activities

“Examples of stress reducers” slide from FSAP webinar
“Examples of stress reducers” slide

Gabriel also recommended that everyone incorporate what he called “healthy distractors,” such as a favorite Netflix show, talking with friends, and exercise into each day. “It’s really important to exercise,” Gabriel said. “It blunts your stress response. If you can work out in the morning, you have a better chance of managing your anxiety throughout the day.” He also suggested trying one of the many meditation and relaxation apps, and, last but not least, he reminded everyone to “show kindness to one another, and we’ll get through this much better.”

Watch Managing the Anxiety of Returning to Onsite Work on demand now.

 

 

Solving big problems

Screenshot of presenters from eCornell June 24 keynote
Screenshot of presenters from eCornell June 24 keynote

Late in 2020, a few faculty members at the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures began reflecting on life in the aftermath of the pandemic. Working independently, each of them recognized that the difficult realities of COVID-19 and social justice issues in the U.S. have deeply impacted us as individuals, as families, as communities, and as workers. These experts examined their own sectors and began writing about emerging trends. As they shared their notes with CIHF colleagues and board members, they saw broad areas of overlap.

“We were doing exactly what we founded the institute to do,” said Mardelle Shepley, executive director of CIHF and Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in the College of Human Ecology (CHE), “(which is) using these disciplines simultaneously to solve big problems in the world.” The CIHF faculty joined forces to draft two papers summarizing their findings, which they hope to publish soon. Here are a few takeaways from their research.

Better built environments: Mardelle Shepley

Screenshot of Mardelle Shepley
Screenshot of Mardelle Shepley

Mardelle Shepley’s research focuses on the impact of the physical environment in healthcare, hospitality, and senior living settings. Mardelle said that the pandemic quickly highlighted shortcomings within healthcare settings, like the need to increase space available for storage of PPE and delivery of vaccines, and to increase access to outdoor areas for both testing and destressing.

“The concern is that we’ve become so tech focused, we’re losing our humanity,” she said. One way to counter this is “giving people the opportunity to interact with or view nature, by stepping outside for 15 minutes,” she explained.

We were doing exactly what we founded the institute to do, (which is) using these disciplines simultaneously to solve big problems in the world.
—Mardelle Shepley, executive director of CIHF

Emerging needs in hospitality settings include how to incorporate robots, better accomplish cleaning, provide safe wellness opportunities, find alternative uses for hotel spaces, isolate family members as needed, and provide contactless food services.

Mardelle said that senior living facilities are “the ultimate platform for bringing hospitality and healthcare together.” She cited the need to reimagine these spaces in the post-pandemic era to provide visiting rooms that allow families to maintain relationships without endangering one another, common spaces that reduce clustering among residents, and circulation routes that reduce the number of people passing back and forth.

She advocated for integrating end users into the design process so that the facility reflects their perspectives and needs. “We need to get the right information to begin with, to make sure we do it right in the end,” she said.

Better working conditions: Nicolas Ziebarth

Screenshot of Nicolas Ziebarth
Screenshot of Nicolas Ziebarth

Nicolas Ziebarth, associate professor of Policy Analysis and Management in CHE, is a labor economist and leading expert on paid sick leave. Nicolas said that many employers don’t offer this benefit, but he anticipates that in the aftermath of the pandemic, “employees will demand this to care for their children. Other countries are doing this,” he added, “and the U.S. needs to, too.”

He noted that people who are not satisfied with their workplace flexibility and fringe benefits are now more likely to quit. “They have the bargaining power to ensure they are happy at work,” he said. Nicolas also forecasts that we will travel less and do more from home. “It’s cheaper, environmentally friendly, and convenient,” he said. He views this moment as a great opportunity to increase equity and improve everyday working conditions.

Nicolas pointed out that virus variants will continue to emerge, and that “COVID-19 will not go away.” He noted that we have learned a lot about how diseases spread, and he believes that this knowledge will result in more interventions to stop the spread. Nicolas predicts lasting changes in workplaces, including growing unwillingness to allow employees to come to work sick.

“There will be a change of behaviors and norms that will require more distancing in labor and healthcare, and more mask wearing,” he said. He also said that “the time is ripe for productive discussions around vaccine hesitancy,” among employers, employees, and clients, as they try to find solutions together. “The pandemic proved that telemedicine works,” he added, and he thinks that, moving forward, a significant share of medical appointments will be done via telemedicine.

Better food systems: Heather Kolakowski ’00

Screenshot of Heather Kolakowski '00
Screenshot of Heather Kolakowski ’00

Heather Kolakowski ’00 is an alumna and lecturer in Food and Beverage Management at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. During the pandemic, Heather turned her expertise in the food and beverage sector to focus on increasing access to healthy food. “Many families need support,” she said, citing data showing that one in eight Americans accessed SNAP benefits in February 2021. “I anticipate levels will stay high,” she said.

“What can we do policy wise?” she asked. She noted that the federal government extended free school lunches through this summer, and that conversations are ongoing about making school lunches free year-round. She also noted the rise of mutual aid societies, where neighbors help neighbors by stocking food cabinets in their communities.

To pay workers a fair wage and offer better benefits to the humans who work for and with us, there is a cost involved.
—Heather Kolakowski ’00, lecturer in Food and Beverage Management at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration

Due to concerns about personal safety, low wages, and long hours, Heather said that many food industry workers are reluctant to return and are instead choosing other types of work. “To pay workers a fair wage and offer better benefits to the humans who work for and with us, there is a cost involved,” she said. “This is an opportunity to disrupt the industry and make changes, like abolishing tipping and creating a fair wage across the board,” she added.

Heather sees potential for the ex-offender population to transition into the hospitality sector. “We need to give populations that have significant barriers to employment the tools they need, and create pipelines for individuals who want to change their lives. It’s kind of like dating,” she explained. “What are the unspoken rules of engaging with mainstream employers? You need to get to know their expectations. In the past, organizations didn’t want to invest the time in this transition process,” she said, “but now we have to.”

Better things to come at Cornell: Brooke Hollis MBA ’78

Screenshot of Brooke Hollis MBA '78
Screenshot of Brooke Hollis MBA ’78

Brooke Hollis MBA ’78 is co-founder and executive director emeritus of CIHF and has worked in both the public and private sectors, serving in senior management positions in health and financial advisory consulting. Brooke moderated the panel and called attention to the new Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, which will investigate many of the issues discussed in the keynote. He noted that Cornell students have access to the data produced by the institute’s multidisciplinary experts and invited viewers to keep abreast of the latest CIFH news on Twitter (@Cornell_ihf).

Watch Transforming Our Lives Through COVID-19’s Lessons on demand now.

More tips and resources

Screenshot of Michelle Artibee, director of workforce wellbeing at Cornell
Screenshot of Michelle Artibee, director of workforce wellbeing at Cornell

Michelle Artibee, director of workforce wellbeing at Cornell, says to expect that it will take time to adjust to working in-person. “The amount of time needed will vary,” she says. “Before returning to the routines of February 2020, consider the newer habits you’ve developed and what good things you will carry forward,” she suggests.

These two articles from Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) provide some additional tips to support your physical and mental health during this time of transition.

Give Yourself Time to Ease Back into Fitness

Going back to working out—no matter how fit you were—should happen slowly, says Asad Siddiqi, DO, sports medicine physician and assistant professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at WCM.

Life Is Returning to Normal, So Why Do You Feel Anxious?

You’re fully vaccinated, New York is reopening, and life is getting back to normal. Instead of joy, you feel overwhelmed, stressed, and can’t stop asking yourself: How should I behave around others? Get tips to manage your anxiety from Dr. Susan Evans, professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at WCM.

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CAU offers online classes with Cornell faculty for adults and youth this summer

Cornell’s Adult University invites alumni, their friends and family, and the general public to expand their minds this summer by taking live, online courses taught by Cornell faculty and graduate students.

These weeklong CAU classes, offered through the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions and eCornell, range from art to engineering and science and will run July 12 through August 6, 2021.

The summer program continues CAU’s success in offering online courses last summer and again this winter due to the pandemic. Traditionally, CAU hosts trips around the world and on-campus summer programming, all taught by Cornell faculty, for adults and youth.

“True to form, Cornell’s faculty and graduate students have generously supported CAU’s summer online learning initiatives by offering to teach a range of subjects to our avid learners, finding the experience to be both refreshing and rewarding,” said CAU’s director, Lora Gruber-Hine.

“Feedback from CAU students has encouraged instructors to maximize student interactions and incorporate diverse activities to keep learning engaging and fun.”

This summer’s weeklong online courses will feature synchronous lectures and discussions, small class sizes, one-on-one interactions with instructors and group learning sessions. Participants will earn a custom Cornell certificate upon successful completion of their course.

Adults may register in weeklong courses on architecture, Finger Lakes natural history, Italian film, Indonesia, ocean biodiversity, photography, poetry, and wine tasting. Each course features four hours of live, interactive content taught by Cornell faculty, three or more hours of asynchronous learning and access to curated resources.

Cornell physics professor Jim Alexander and his mother attended the Archipelago: Indonesia Past and Present course taught last winter (and again this summer) by Eric Tagliacozzo, the John Stambaugh Professor of History. Alexander said he was impressed by the quality of the instruction and the curriculum.

“Eric was an excellent teacher and covered a wide range of topics and history with evident deep expertise,” Alexander said. “He was completely open to questions and discussion, which helped make the class lively and engaged.”

With fingers crossed for in-person programming to be possible again soon, Alexander will lead his own CAU class on a physics education vacation to Switzerland and CERN in 2022.

Also on tap this summer are CAU programs for youth and teens ages 10–15. Students may register for weeklong courses in biomedical engineering, cryptography, spider science, bird identification, physics, cosmology, and veterinary science. These courses feature five hours of live, interactive content taught by a Cornell instructor along with access to educational resources and tailored materials.

Stamatios Taramas, a parent who signed his son up for the winter bioengineering course (offered again this summer with Jeremy Keys, a PhD candidate in biomedical engineering), said the class was excellent.

“Jeremy was awesome, both in the lectures and the recordings. He analyzed everything thoroughly, but left room for the student to engage in research on his own. My son found the class very interactive and engaging.”

Class size is limited to 20 participants for adults and 30 participants for youth and teens, so interested students are encouraged to register as soon as possible.

Registration closes in mid-June for most courses. For more information and instructions on how to register, visit the CAU website.

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Data policy program boosts high school students

This spring, more than 100 underserved high schoolers in New York, Florida and Michigan participated in an expanded online data policy and analysis program, in which they explored pressing policy issues such as income inequality, racial justice and climate change through economic and sociological lenses.

The program – developed by eCornell, the School of Continuing Education (SCE) and the nonprofit National Education Equity Lab (NEEL) – was led by Maria Fitzpatrick and Matthew Hall, both professors in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, in the College of Human Ecology. In examining important issues – including education equity and COVID-19 – students sought to determine how big data is being used to address policy problems in the United States and across the globe.

Students had the opportunity to learn directly from Cornell faculty via virtual office hours, lab sessions and one-on-one facetime.

“Maria Fitzpatrick and Matthew Hall have been forces of nature in providing transformational opportunities to students who need it most,” said Leslie Cornfeld, NEEL’s founder and CEO.

During a closing ceremony May 26, Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff praised the high school scholars for their achievements, saying he was proud of Cornell’s leadership in this effort with the Equity Lab as it reflects Cornell’s commitment to equity, access and opportunity.

Fitzpatrick called the program “one of the best teaching experiences of my career.”

Last summer, eCornell and NEEL piloted a high school program with Donna Haeger, professor of practice in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, based on Haeger’s popular on-campus spreadsheet modeling courses. To expand the collaboration, this spring eCornell and SCE worked with NEEL to offer a three-credit online undergraduate course, Big Data for Big Policy Problems (PAM 270).

Many of the 16 schools participating in the high school program signed on to provide supervising teachers, who coached and helped all students with time management. NEEL provided a Chromebook to any student without access to a laptop.

“Cornell University’s leadership is a national model for what selective universities can accomplish in the education justice space,” Cornfeld said.

“With this expansion, Cornell has powerfully demonstrated their commitment to racial and economic justice. They’re not just talking the talk. That commitment should make current and future students, as well as alumni, proud of their alma mater.”

One such future student is Melanie Lantigua, a high school student from the Bronx who successfully completed the course and will be attending Cornell this fall as a first-generation student.

“I hope Cornell continues to offer opportunities like this to scholars in underserved high schools across the nation,” Lantigua said during the ceremony. “We need opportunities like this to show colleges – and ourselves – what we can do.”

Jamie Bonan ’18 is a content marketing specialist at eCornell.

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Ansys ushers in a new era of online learning with Cornell Engineering

/ Key Highlights

Ansys is transforming engineering curricula through a partnership with Cornell University to develop simulation courses, supplementing online learning
Cornell’s SimCafe tutorials will now be accessible on the Ansys Innovation Courses platform
Ansys and Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering are transforming online engineering curriculum with new simulation-based online courses. The collaboration satisfies the increased demand for remote learning and brings simulation software to the forefront of teaching.

As graduating engineers and young professionals face demanding positions and high expectations in the workplace, Cornell and Ansys are arming them with access to world-class simulation education. Through this collaboration with Cornell, Ansys lowers the barrier for simulation education and equips a new era of engineers to succeed within advanced engineering teams, who increasingly leverage simulation to solve complex engineering problems.

Faculty from Cornell’s College of Engineering will design and develop courses with eCornell, the university’s external education unit, while Ansys provides support for the inclusion of real-world application examples and detailed technical write-ups of problem formulations, engineering assumptions, simulation approaches and results interpretation. The courses’ flexible format enables participants to complete the curricula on their own timelines. Courses will be offered for both students and professionals seeking to bolster their skillsets. Additionally, Cornell has chosen the Ansys Innovation Courses platform to host their existing SimCafe tutorials. Cornell will work closely with Ansys to migrate all of their tutorials to the Innovation Courses learning structure, resulting in more than 50 new Cornell courses, adding to the more than 75 existing Ansys Innovation courses.

“Simulation is a disruptive technology that can be used to transform engineering curriculum at the university level,” said Rajesh Bhaskaran, Swanson director of engineering simulation at Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. “As simulation becomes a standard feature of curriculum for teaching physics and applications, nearly every engineering graduate should be able to use simulation software effectively. Together with Ansys, we look forward to preparing engineers with the simulation skillset they need.”

“Through our continued collaboration with Cornell University, we are helping students and professionals engineer what’s ahead throughout every stage of their career,” said Prith Banerjee, chief technology officer at Ansys. “As simulation continues to revolutionize how engineering is done, the eCornell courses, supplemented by our Ansys Innovation Courses, will ensure that participants gain the experience needed to excel in the ever-changing industry.”

The Cornell courses are now open for registration. To learn more or to sign up, please visit https://ecornell.cornell.edu/certificates/engineering/fluid-dynamics-simulations-using-ansys/. Ansys Innovation Courses are available at https://courses.ansys.com/.

/ About Ansys

If you’ve ever seen a rocket launch, flown on an airplane, driven a car, used a computer, touched a mobile device, crossed a bridge or put on wearable technology, chances are you’ve used a product where Ansys software played a critical role in its creation. Ansys is the global leader in engineering simulation. Through our strategy of Pervasive Engineering Simulation, we help the world’s most innovative companies deliver radically better products to their customers. By offering the best and broadest portfolio of engineering simulation software, we help them solve the most complex design challenges and create products limited only by imagination. Founded in 1970, Ansys is headquartered south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Visit www.ansys.com for more information.

Ansys and any and all ANSYS, Inc. brand, product, service and feature names, logos and slogans are registered trademarks or trademarks of ANSYS, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States or other countries. All other brand, product, service and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

ANSS–T

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Cornell launches online fluid dynamics simulation certificate

Cornell University is partnering with software company Ansys to create a new certificate program that allows engineers from across the world to master simulation of fluid dynamics.

The Fluid Dynamics Simulations Using Ansys Certificate program will be globally available through the eCornell online learning platform beginning July 7, and will offer a number of courses that teach students and professionals how to create and validate simulations, such as flows over a car body, cooling fan and airplane body.

While commercial software is becoming easier to use for non-experts, simulation is still complex and requires a deep understanding of mathematical models and physical principles. The new courses aim to bridge the gap between theory and real-world simulation applications, and offer a self-paced format that allows participants flexibility in going through the course content.

Ansys develops, markets and supports engineering simulation software used to predict how product designs will behave in real-world environments and has a long history with Cornell. John Swanson ’61, M.Eng. ’63, founder of Ansys, is a long-time supporter of the university. He endowed the Swanson Director of Engineering Simulation position in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering—which is held by Senior Lecturer Rajesh Bhaskaran.

“Rajesh has been very effective in using online learning to provide practical simulation education to a broad audience within and outside Cornell,” said Swanson, who is the recipient of the 2021 Cornell Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award. “I am happy to see his impact expand further through the eCornell simulation courses.”

Simulation is increasingly being used in the workplace to solve complex engineering problems and is becoming an important aspect of an engineer’s skillset. Bhaskaran has helped introduce industry-standard simulation tools into Cornell courses covering fluid mechanics, heat transfer, solid mechanics, and numerical analysis. This has shown students how theoretical concepts can be used to solve practical problems involving complex geometries while also helping them secure jobs and internships.

“We are increasingly leveraging the power of engineering modeling and simulation, seamlessly, in the development, delivery and support of our products and services,” says Dan Newman ’83, chief engineer of advanced vertical lift at Boeing. “We rely on our knowledgeable and motivated workforce of well-rounded system-level thinkers to maximize the capability of engineering simulation to ensure and enhance quality, safety and affordability for all stakeholders throughout the product life cycle.

The new eCornell simulation certificate builds on Cornell’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), A Hands-on Introduction to Engineering Simulations, which recently surpassed 200,000 enrollments. The course is one of the most popular free MOOC’s offered by Cornell and was developed by Bhaskaran pre-COVID-19, when online learning wasn’t as common as it has become today. He saw online learning as a good platform to learn a tech-centered skill and wanted to reach a wide audience.

“Simulation is a disruptive technology that can be used to transform engineering curriculum at the university level,” said Bhaskaran. “As simulation becomes a standard feature of curriculum for teaching physics and applications, nearly every engineering graduate should be able to use simulation software effectively. Together with Ansys, we look forward to preparing engineers with the simulation skillset they need.”

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Center for Virtual Care expands digital health training

Digital health and the tools for patients to virtually reach their health care providers have quickly become a mainstay of medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for Virtual Care is positioned at the leading edge of this health care delivery transformation. Leveraging their years of experience with video visits, the center’s experts train providers how to best use it to give their patients comprehensive, compassionate care.

Since its formal launch in early 2020, the center has hosted 30 sessions with more than 500 health care providers across the continuum – physicians, residents, medical students, physician assistants and physician assistant students, nurses, care managers and other practitioners – teaching them “web-side” manner, how to examine patients and make treatment-related decisions remotely, and other fundamentals through live courses and simulations. Trainings began in person, but quickly transitioned to remote learning in March 2020 with the emergence of COVID-19. The center’s latest offering is a two-week online course, developed in collaboration with eCornell, that provides strategies practitioners can use when meeting remotely with their patients.

“Our physicians have been delivering digital health care since 2016 and have seen firsthand the power of the virtual doctor’s office in reaching our patients, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Rahul Sharma, chairman of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine, which operates the center. “The Center for Virtual Care strives to train our health care colleagues on digital health best practices and drive national dialogue about the value of this new clinical medium in delivering the finest patient care.”

The new eCornell course, which features a curriculum in-line with the Association of American Medical College’s Telehealth Competencies, offers instruction on how to harness the digital health medium to effectively create a therapeutic patient-provider encounter. Students learn essentials including verbal and nonverbal communication strategies to convey empathy and compassion, how to overcome technical challenges, and how to conduct remote patient exams.

“As physicians, providing high-quality care is the bedrock of our work, regardless of whether that care happens in-person or on a screen,” said Dr. Peter Greenwald, director of telemedicine in the Department of Emergency Medicine and an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “The work we are doing at the Center for Virtual Care is helping establish a new patient provider space that, like the office exam room, has its own set of rules, practices and tools of the trade. The material we teach at the center allows practitioners to become proficient in this new space in order to make their digital health care a practice of excellence.”

The digital medium offers patients the opportunity to connect with providers at a time and place that’s convenient for them. But telemedicine practice can create new communication barriers and may even expose providers and institutions to risk. The Center for Virtual Care tackles these issues to ensure that digital health offers its very best therapeutic benefits at the lowest medical-legal risk.

“The center’s goal is to empower physicians and provide them with the tools they need to become proficient in the digital space,” said Dr. Neel Naik, the director of simulation education for the Department of Emergency Medicine and an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “The pandemic has accelerated a shift toward virtual patient encounters and has underscored just how important these skills are in fostering a positive health care experience.”

Megan Burke is chief marketing officer for eCornell and Alyssa Sunkin-Strube is newsroom manager for Weill Cornell Medicine.

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Cornell’s revamped External Education unit broadens its reach

(CORNELL CHRONICLE) — Paul Krause ’91 is the university’s vice provost for external education and leads eCornell. His role as vice provost is part of an effort that recently brought together eCornell and the university’s various external education programs into a new external education initiative unit under the academic leadership of the provost’s office to expand Cornell’s reach and impact.

The new unit also supports faculty who develop and design learning experiences to strategically extend the reach of the university. The initiative also includes expanding executive education programs tailored to the needs of companies, governments and nonprofits.

The full conversation is available at news.cornell.edu/PaulKrauseQA.

What are Cornell’s external education goals?

Paul Krause: President Martha E. Pollack and Provost Michael I. Kotlikoff have a vision to expand Cornell’s reach and impact through external education offerings. They’ve brought together eCornell and other external education units under the provost’s office as part of an effort to better integrate and expand our efforts.

In practical terms, we expand our reach and impact by launching new educational programs that people will enroll in. We work with Cornell faculty to design and produce these learning programs and events that may be online, in person or live, or in a blend of formats.

Of course, we also need to make sure that the world knows about Cornell’s programs and their unique value. So we have a number of goals related to driving enrollment. We do not focus primarily on traditional college-age students, but rather working professionals and lifelong learners. We have goals for both reaching individual students and for establishing long-term relationships with nonprofit organizations and industry partners to integrate Cornell programs into their employee development plans.

What are some of the programs this unit offers, and how many people does it reach?

eCornell is well known for its online certificate programs, which are considered noncredit microcredentials. Cornell was a pioneer with this type of online program, launching a significant initiative more than 20 years ago. Over the past couple of years, Cornell has really expanded its offerings further, and today we are a leader among our peers for these small-cohort, high-impact online programs.

We offer more than 80 programs that are typically completed in a 3- to 6-month period. We expect more than 80,000 unique students this year. These programs often support learners who wish to develop their professional skills in topics ranging from business and leadership to hospitality, human resources, healthcare, marketing and technology. We also offer successful programs on lifelong learning topics such as photography and nutrition.

Our team also collaborates closely with multiple academic units to launch new online and blended master’s degree programs that target working professionals. These have been quite successful in terms of enrolling impressive cohorts of individuals, offering high-quality programming, and garnering great overall feedback.

The next program we are launching, this month, is an online master of science in legal studies [MSLS] through Cornell Law School. It is a degree for working business professionals who work with lawyers and need a solid grounding in legal language and concepts. We intend to launch many more online and blended master’s programs for working professionals.

Of course, education also can happen in very small bites. To support this type of learning, Cornell offers something we call interactive keynotes. Keynotes are bite-sized, one-hour, engaging live events such as panels or interviews. These provide an opportunity for people to hear from faculty on current events and recent research, or just to engage in a topic they find interesting. In one recent week we held keynote events ranging from “Guiding our Children through Crisis” and “Racism in America” to “Innovations for COVID-safe Hotels.”

What are some of the most popular offerings, and what partnerships have enhanced them?

In the category of professional online certificate programs, one of our top program areas is diversity and inclusion, which is certainly relevant in the national discussion right now. Other popular programs include leadership, digital marketing, project management and women in leadership.

One of our biggest social-impact partnerships is with Bank of America. The Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell offers a free women entrepreneurs certificate that is a high-impact, robust online program for aspiring entrepreneurs. They recently announced plans to more than double its total enrollment, adding 30,000 slots with an emphasis on diversity.

What has been the impact of the recent organizational changes?

While the changes are all still a work in progress, this new structure has already enabled Cornell to build a more comprehensive, strategic approach to external education. For example, now when we meet with a Fortune 500 company, we have a more integrated message on how Cornell can support their internal employee development initiatives. In a recent example, a large organization was looking for support in diversity and inclusion, and we were able to assemble a broad, multipart solution that included live executive education, online certificate courses, and learning paths with on-demand lesson videos.

This unique set of capabilities really does resonate – the idea that we can provide solutions to multiple levels of an organization. This might include live faculty interaction for the executive-level managers within a company, online certificate programs for targeted “high potential” managers and on-demand lessons that are scalable and can be pushed out to more than 20,000 employees.

For the university community, being structured in this way means we are better able to align programs and facilitate collaboration among faculty to expand the number of programs and events offered.

Have you built relationships with other institutional partners?

We’re looking to launch additional social-impact programs. For example, just this year, Steve Carvell, professor of finance, facilitated a pilot collaboration between various units at Cornell and the National Education Equity Lab, a nonprofit organization, and the potential impacts are very exciting. It’s a way to give high school students in underserved communities the opportunity to develop critical business skills while excelling in, and ultimately completing, a for-credit course at a top university like Cornell.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Cornell’s external education initiative?

As with everyone, the coronavirus pandemic has had profound impacts on us. While we played a relatively minor role, we did mobilize our resources required to support Cornell’s all-hands-on-deck effort to get classes online last spring. We also have accelerated opportunities to reuse eCornell-produced online learning assets in any course that needs them.

With respect to the external education efforts, traditional in-person executive education had a fairly abrupt pause, and our focus has been to migrate these programs online where possible. As you might expect, certain market segments, such as hospitality, have really been hit hard. Beyond these challenges, the pandemic has only accelerated interest in online programs and we’ve seen significant enrollment growth.

What qualities do you and your team bring to this external education unit?

I’m fortunate to have a very strong team with a lot of complementary skill sets and many years of collective experience in this space. We have great instructional design professionals, media production professionals, digital marketing experts, professional enrollment counselors, learning consultants, partnership account managers, operations experts, and so much more. Our team is passionate about creating great programs and sharing their enthusiasm about them with the world. And, importantly, we have the support of amazing Cornell faculty – an indispensible part of this entire initiative.

What really drives all of us is being able to deliver a growing and renowned program that reflects well on Cornell University and that has a real and lasting impact on people’s lives – a crucial part of Cornell’s mission and “any person … any study” ethos.

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Women’s entrepreneurship institute set for major expansion

Two years ago, the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell launched their certificate program delivered through eCornell. Demand for the program was so strong that the original goal of providing free online education to 5,000 entrepreneurs quickly increased to 20,000 – thanks to a follow-on grant from Bank of America – and seats in the program were filled as soon as they were added.

On Nov. 19 – Women’s Entrepreneurship Day – the bank announced an additional grant that will allow another major expansion, more than doubling total enrollment. The institute in the coming months will add another 30,000 seats – for a total of 50,000 – while continuing to emphasize diversity, including the development of a Spanish-language component.

“We at Cornell are extremely proud of the impact the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship is having on aspiring entrepreneurs,” said President Martha E. Pollack. “The institute builds on Cornell’s commitment to the public good and on the strength of our faculty in providing practical, focused, accessible education.”

Bank of America will partner with nonprofits – including the National Urban League, the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders and Prospera – to increase opportunities for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. Those partners will offer their members access to the certificate program beginning in January 2021.

Already, more than 80% of the institute’s roughly 22,000 enrolled students identify as women of color. Registration is open to anyone worldwide, regardless of gender identity, educational background or business stage.

Students take a series of two-week online courses designed by Cornell faculty to help women develop and grow businesses, access resources and join a network of fellow entrepreneurs.

Instructors support students and moderate discussions in the six classes:

  • Creating Your Venture;
  • Laying the Legal Building Blocks;
  • Assessing and Obtaining Financial Resources;
  • Growth Leadership for Women Entrepreneurs;
  • Product Development and Digital Marketing; and
  • Communication, Negotiation and Persuasiveness.

“A human instructor is present in each course, so the students are receiving feedback on their course projects and in their discussion forums, as well as engaging and networking with each other,” said Kirsten Barker ’92, program director for the institute.

Upon completing all six courses, students earn a certificate in women’s entrepreneurship – the only one of its kind offered by an Ivy League university. To date, students have completed nearly 21,000 courses and earned nearly 2,400 certificates.

Citing a study by the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, Bank of America noted that the coronavirus pandemic has more adversely impacted the careers of women, who accounted for 46% of U.S. employment before the pandemic but 54% of job losses this year.

At the same time, the institute’s leaders say, women, and specifically women of color, represent the fastest-growing segment in entrepreneurship, but historically have lacked access to training, resources and networks.

“We’ve been amazed by our students’ resilience throughout COVID-19,” said Deborah Streeter, the institute’s faculty director and Professor Emerita in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, part of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

Responding to an institute survey about their transitions to working from home, students reported dealing with caregiving challenges that have disproportionately fallen on women, as well as disrupted businesses, longer hours in essential jobs and fatigue. Some also said they had found opportunities to bond with family and friends, expand their businesses online and improve efficiency.

After completing the program, one student proudly posted an image of her certificate to her LinkedIn page and stated “COVID-19 season has had a silver lining. I feel equipped and empowered.”

Having launched as an online certificate program serving students from across the nation – and a small international contingent representing dozens of countries – program leaders say the institute is well-positioned to grow and support more students despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“This expansion will allow us to improve the chances that these entrepreneurs will be successful,” said Stewart Schwab, the Jonathan and Ruby Zhu Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and executive director of the institute. “That’s our goal, to give our students the tools for success.”

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Bank of America expands the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As part of Bank of America’s $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity, today – Women’s Entrepreneurship Day – the company announced a further expansion of the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell. Due to the program’s success, Bank of America will add 30,000 seats – bringing the total enrollment of small business owners to 50,000 – and will work with Cornell to develop a Spanish language curriculum and hire Spanish-speaking teaching assistants to more effectively support Hispanic-Latino entrepreneurs.

The Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell is the only Ivy League program offering a certificate in women’s entrepreneurship, and at no cost. Since its launch in 2018, the institute has enrolled more than 20,000 individuals, primarily women, of whom 86% identify as women of color. Registration is open to anyone worldwide, regardless of gender, educational background or business stage.

As part of the program expansion, Bank of America will partner with several nonprofits, including the National Urban League, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders and Prospera, to create more enrollment opportunities for Black and Hispanic-Latino entrepreneurs.

The challenges that women entrepreneurs face have multiplied over recent months. According to a recent McKinsey study, while women made up 46% of U.S. employment pre-coronavirus, they account for 54% of overall job losses year to date – with women of color the hardest hit.

“With women bearing much of the economic brunt of the pandemic – and particularly women of color – our further investment in the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell has never felt more important,” said Anne Finucane, vice chairman at Bank of America. “Amid the unforeseen challenges and events this year, we must continue to invest in women entrepreneurs to drive economic growth, because when women-owned businesses thrive, our communities flourish.”

“We at Cornell are extremely proud of the impact the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship is having on aspiring entrepreneurs,” said Martha E. Pollack, president of Cornell University. “The institute builds on Cornell’s commitment to the public good and on the strength of our faculty in providing practical, focused, accessible education.”

Through coursework that draws on curricula from across Cornell’s schools, the instructor-led classes and limited class size provide women the opportunity to learn new skills, connect with a vibrant network of entrepreneurs and social innovators, and access the resources they need to manage and scale a successful business. These courses include Creating Your Venture; Laying the Legal Building Blocks; Assessing and Obtaining Financial Resources; Growth Leadership for Women Entrepreneurs; Product Development and Digital Marketing; and Communication, Negotiation and Persuasiveness.

Investing in women

Bank of America’s investment in women as they make meaningful contributions within the company and in communities around the world includes a focus on being a great place to work for its female employees, improving the financial lives of female clients, and advancing women’s economic empowerment worldwide. The company has several long-standing partnerships, through which it has helped more than 30,000 women from 85 countries grow their businesses, including:

  • Tory Burch Foundation Capital Program: Since 2014, Bank of America has committed $100 million in capital to the Tory Burch Foundation Capital Program, helping women business owners gain access to affordable loans. To date, more than 3,400 women have received nearly $57 million in loans through community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to help them grow their businesses.
  • Global Ambassadors Program: A partnership between Bank of America and Vital Voices, the Global Ambassadors Program pairs women entrepreneurs with senior women executives for a week of one-on-one mentorship and workshops designed to build business acumen. To date, the program has impacted more than 400 women from 85 countries – helping mentees grow their businesses and organizations through more than 8,000 hours of training and mentorship.
  • Cherie Blair Foundation: Since 2013, Bank of America has partnered with the Cherie Blair Foundation on its Mentoring Women in Business program, which has matched more than 2,700 women in developing and emerging countries to online mentors, including more than 500 mentors from Bank of America.
  • Kiva: Through a partnership with Kiva, Bank of America has committed more than $2 million in funds to women business owners, assisting more than 17,200 women entrepreneurs from 45 countries.

Recent Bank of America announcements focused on racial equality, diversity and inclusion, and economic opportunity include:

Bank of America Environmental, Social and Governance
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

Contacts
Eliza Murphy, Bank of America
Phone: 1.347.603.6845
eliza.murphy@bofa.com

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eCornell gives high school students an analytic edge

A collaboration between eCornell and the nonprofit National Education Equity Lab is giving high school students in underserved communities the opportunity to develop skills in business analytics while also gaining the confidence to recognize they can excel in college, even in the Ivy League.

The partnership has resulted in eCornell’s first certificate course aimed at high school students. Pre-college Analytics and Spreadsheet Modeling is a four-week pilot course that launched June 24 with a class of 132 students, who are learning how to organize and analyze data in Excel and use that information as a decision-making tool.

This course follows a “buy one, give one” model, whereby 60 students recruited by eCornell each pay $150 to enroll, which helps offset the costs of 72 students selected from Equity Lab’s network of partnering underserved high schools across the country. All of these schools receive Title 1 federal funding because of their high concentrations of poverty and families in need.

“Highly talented, motivated students in our lowest income communities – who tend to be largely students of color and first-generation students – are often unable to demonstrate that they’ve got what it takes to be a successful college student,” said Leslie Cornfeld, founder and CEO of Equity Lab. “Research shows that current college admissions metrics can mask talent, particularly for low-income students. Education, we know, is the number one lever for social and economic mobility, and the future success of our country.”

Equity Lab works to advance educational and life opportunities for highly talented, low-income students and students of color by collaborating with philanthropic, nonprofit and academic institutions such as the Common Application, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Harvard University. Equity Lab and eCornell were brought together by Steven Carvell, vice provost for external education strategy, at a crucial time. COVID-19 has created an enormous surge in the need for innovative online education models, especially in communities that the Equity Lab targets, which have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

“These are the families that are on the front lines in our country right now. They are not only the essential workers. They are suffering the highest levels of unemployment, food and housing insecurity, and illness,” Cornfeld said. “And in the midst of this crisis, these students leaped at the opportunity to take this course.”

While some teenagers might blanch at the idea of spending a month of their summer vacation learning about spreadsheets, most of the slots Cornell made available to the Equity Lab students were filled within 24 hours of posting.

“These students don’t get opportunities like this very often, and they are determined to take full advantage of it,” said Cornfeld, a former federal civil rights prosecutor who served as an adviser on education equity issues for former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Knowledge of data analytics is essential for anyone hoping to join the 21st-century workforce, and it’s also a practical tool for managing personal finances, according to Donna Haeger, professor of practice in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, who created and teaches the course.

“I always tell students that understanding how to make decisions with data is becoming just as important as reading and math,” said Haeger. “Businesses are really challenged right now to find qualified individuals who know how to model and make decisions using data. It doesn’t matter what industry you choose to enter. Data is everywhere.”

Haeger previously created a professional development certificate course in business analytics for eCornell. She modified those materials for a high school audience by simplifying the terminology and using age-appropriate examples. Rather than investing in a diversified portfolio, students solve problems like organizing a bake sale or buying clothing for a sports team. Haeger worked with eCornell to develop explanatory videos that are incorporated into the modules. And she added a weekly hourlong synchronous group session, so students can ask her questions directly and feel more connected.

“This course is a great equalizer. Everybody is able to jump in and try it for the first time. And it’s low risk for them,” Haeger said. “I think people are really intimidated by terms like ‘big data’ and ‘business analytics.’ I try to demystify all of that and make sure the students have a really positive experience. They realize, ‘Wow, I can do this.’”

The Equity Lab team has also been meeting with the students in weekly sessions to track their progress. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, Cornfeld said. While the material is difficult, it has given them a chance to prove to themselves, and to higher education institutions, that they are able to meet the challenge.

For Donovan Blount, a rising senior at Rockaway Collegiate High School in Queens, New York, the certificate course is potentially life-changing.

“Opportunities like this are important for students like me because most students who grow up in low to average income neighborhoods cannot afford prestigious classes,” he said. “So a free, informative class like this can open up doors of opportunity that we did not know were even possible.”