Good afternoon,
My name is Col Scott Grainger, and I am the new AFROTC Detachment 695 Commander and Professor of Aerospace Studies at the University of Portland. Our detachment was recently informed that University of Portland is moving to a virtual classroom delivery for the Fall. I know a lot of hard work went into planning for opening in person, however, the situation in Oregon has dictated the University change course in order to push the safety of staff and students at the forefront of the decision.
This news is likely going to drive many questions from each of you with respect to how this impacts your future in Air Force ROTC. In order to start that conversation, we will be hosting two Zoom meetings next week on Thursday, 6 August at 9am and 5pm (Pacific Time) to have a dialog and answer those questions directly. Our overall intent is to make sure we are communicating the information you need at this time. With that in mind, we will be updating our WordPress site along with Facebook and Instagram (Links below) with updates and information as we receive it.
To access the Zoom meetings, please use the following ID and Password:
Meeting ID: 549 650 9545
Password: Det695
1. Our detachment staff will host a Virtual Open House on 19 Aug 2020 at 11am PST. This will be an opportunity to meet the cadre, introduce our program and answer any additional questions. Details about the meeting will be sent in the coming week.
2. The detachment (cadets) will be hosting a Virtual New Cadet Orientation on 20 Aug 2020. Details will be forth coming about that event.
3. For paper in-processing, our Non-commissioned officer team will be virtually hosting 5 cadets at a time to finish paperwork and answer questions during the week of 17- 21 Aug 20. Details on how to sign up for those time slots will be sent to you in the coming week. Please hold all questions about paperwork for those meetings.
Over the next semester we intend to continue to look for opportunities to offer the best possible training. We will be creative as we look for solutions to disconnects between the virtual and in-person training environment. We now have the lessons learned from a portion of a semester remote, mixed with the best practices from 145 detachments across the country. I am confident that the Cadet Wing leadership and our detachment staff are looking at all options to bring our leadership curriculum to you.
You can direct any immediate questions to our Recruiting Officer: Maj Bryan Scism, scism@up.edu.
We know there are a lot of questions on everyone’s mind, and we’ll do our best to answer each one as they come up. This isn’t exactly how I had envisioned meeting you all, but COVID has presented some unique challenges. I look forward to meeting you all and tackling those challenges together this semester.
Respectfully,
Col Grainger