The Bentley Buzz

Last week, Dr. Brent Chrite was announced as the ninth president of Bentley. With more than 25 years of experience in higher education, Dr. Chrite believes that business can change lives for the better. Before joining Bentley, he served as the president of Bethune-Cookman University and dean of the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. 

Over the course of his career, Dr. Chrite has helped governments, universities and foundations to develop programs and research initiatives aimed at bolstering emerging markets, entrepreneurism and capital development and reducing poverty. He has worked to strengthen economic conditions and improve business education around the world, including many countries in Asia and Africa.

Read More About President-Elect Chrite

This month marked the one-year anniversary of Bentley's move to remote learning, teaching and working. In that time, we’ve become multi-tasking masters of Zoom meetings, learning the ins and outs of waiting rooms and virtual backgrounds. We’ve learned new things about maintaining a healthy work-life balance, developing new daily routines and finding time for lunch and coffee breaks. And we’ve explored every square inch of our homes while getting a glimpse of our colleagues’ kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms.

While some have returned to campus to teach and work, and the nationwide vaccine rollout holds hope for more chances to interact in person, most faculty and staff are continuing to operate remotely. To help us stay connected, the Buzz asked a few faculty and staff what they’ve learned over the past year.

Keeping things in perspective…

It can be hard to put in perspective how the pandemic has so deeply disrupted our everyday lives. It’s important to be mindful of that when stressed or feeling like things aren’t in our control. “Burpees suck, and every day is a burpee,” said Andy Aylesworth, professor and chair of the Marketing Department. “When you are doing burpees, you can’t worry about the next burpee, or how many burpees are left.  All you can do is get through this burpee. But, eventually, the burpees will be over.” 

It’s also important to give yourself a break when evaluating your daily routines. Give yourself credit for tackling things on your to-do list, no matter how small they may seem. “You have to give yourself a break. This is not normal, and you can’t expect ‘normal’ performance,” Andy said.

Developing new routines…

Small things like listening to the radio while commuting to work or chatting with peers when arriving to your office have been lacking this past year. These things might seem small, but they help keep us in a routine, and that’s been sorely missed. To make up for that, it’s important to develop your own new routines to keep things regulated.

“When we first went remote, I (along with so many other people) started frantically googling how to get used to working from home,” shared Bria Milbery, assistant director of programs and initiatives in the Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center. “One piece of advice that I really liked is to still incorporate a commute to start and end your day. My partner and I would walk our dogs together in the morning before work and again at the end of the day, and it signaled us to know our work day was starting/over. I’m looking forward to the temperatures rising so I can do that again.”

 

Finding balance…

Working remotely can feel like we’re always plugged in and online, making it hard to wind down for the day. Finding ways to disconnect and take a break are important for our mental and physical health. “I don’t schedule meetings during my lunch hour. I use it as an hour of self-care,” shared Nia DeYounge, director of the Center for International Students and Scholars. “Sometimes that means eating, walking, meditating or catching up on texts. Whatever the activity, I commit to leaving the desk and not working for that hour.”

Taking time to catch your breath during the day is important, and so is winding down as the day comes to a close. “I put a reminder in my calendar for every day at 3:30 p.m. to revisit my to-do list and email and prioritize anything else I need to finish that day,” added Bria. “That way when the end of the day hits, I know I can walk away having done what I needed to for that day.”

Staying in touch…

While we’ve all gotten more familiar with Zoom calls and Teams chats than we ever expected we would, these platforms have also given us the chance to easily connect with our coworkers to make up for the lack of direct daily interactions. “I’ve also added coffee chats with colleagues,” said Nia. “I thrive on positive energy and connection. It’s been a really positive change to add energizing conversations throughout my workdays. I’m enjoying taking time to hear what my work buddies are doing outside of work, and what’s got them excited about life right now.”

In the classroom, many have embraced technology to keep students engaged and connected, no matter where in the world they may be. “I’ve found that online polls are a fun way to engage my students whilst they’re scattered all over the globe!” said Axel Seemann, professor and chair of the Philosophy Department. 

Being flexible…

Whether it’s juggling meeting times or changing your plans for the day, it’s important to be flexible and avoid feeling like you need to keep to a rigid daily plan. A lot is changing each day, and the less we’re tied to plans, the more likely we are to embrace new pathways. “In terms of my classes, I have made sure that my lesson plans are not set in stone,” said Christian Rubio, chair of the Modern Languages Department and director of the Honors Program. “On the contrary, I’ve left room for flexibility. This has allowed me to quickly adapt my class activities to help our students reach their goals and objectives regardless of their location. You cannot replace the in-person classroom, but being empathetic to students’ needs is crucial.”

Mixing up the classroom routine can help lend to that flexibility. “I found it can be difficult for students to keep focus, so I frequently alternate the model of the session during a single class,” added Professor of Statistics Mingfei Li. “For example, I’ll have a 20-minute lecture, then have 10-15 minutes for group practice and class discussions, followed by another block of lectures and other questions. I try to make each portion of the class no longer than 20 minutes each.”

For others, keeping students engaged can mean using online tools outside of the Zoom environment. "I try to have the students play online games like Kahoot," said Senior Law Lecturer Kiana Pierre-Louis. "We do role plays, which are fun, but students are also learning and I have the online and in-person students engage with each other bring them into the conversation to break up a lecture."
 

And sometimes, just taking the time to catch up with a student or colleague one on one can make a difference in someone’s day. “I miss the face-to-face interactions,” said Jahangir Sultan, Gibbons professor of Finance and founding director of the Hughey Center for Financial Services. “So I try to have personal Zoom rooms for one-to-one chats to provide a little bit of advice on how to cope with stress.”

No matter how you’ve managed working and teaching during the pandemic, it’s important to remember that we’re still one community, and that we’re all in this together. Brighter days are ahead, and we’ll come back together eventually, but until then, don’t hesitate to ask colleagues for help when you need it.  

Have some tips for working remotely, staying active or managing stress? We want to share them!

Email the Buzz