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NEWS 1/25/22 11:18pm

Faculty given option to block anonymous course evaluations

By Maria Morkas

Due to concerns that pandemic-induced circumstances resulted in differences in course and instructor evaluation scores, the Office of the Provost allowed faculty to opt-out of showing their evaluations to students, according to an email sent out by the office in early August last year. In this email, the Office also wrote that the average evaluation scores were slightly better in fall 2020 and spring 2021, in comparison to previous semesters.

NEWS 1/25/22 11:16pm

Domingues da Silva awarded NEH grant for Atlantic Slave Trade Archive

By Viola Hsia

Associate professor of history Daniel Domingues da Silva was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for Humanities for his project, the Digital Archive of the Atlantic Slave Trades, on Jan. 12. The Archive was created to provide an online space for documents telling the history of the transportation of slaves  in the Atlantic and North America.

NEWS 1/25/22 11:14pm

RUPD developing safety app for community members

By Lin Lu

The Rice University Police Department is developing a safety app for Rice students and faculty, estimated to be officially released by the end of this semester. Clemente Rodriguez, the chief of police, said this safety app has three major functions: Emergency Call, SOS function and Safe Corridor. He said he hopes that this app would enable users to think of their phone as another source for security.

NEWS 1/18/22 10:59pm

Rice aiming to fill admin vacancies by July 1

By Viola Hsia

The search to fill three prominent vacancies in Rice administration is currently ongoing. General Counsel Richard Zansitis retired at the start of this semester after 21 years in his role. Vice Provost for Research Yousif Shamoo will also be stepping down this month, and Provost Reginald DesRoches will leave his position later this summer to begin his tenure as Rice’s eight president. 

NEWS 1/18/22 10:57pm

Rice alumnus named a TIME 2021 Hero of the Year

By Bonnie Zhao

Rice alumnus Barney Graham ’75, a renowned virologist whose research led to the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, has been named a 2021 Hero of the Year by TIME Magazine. TIME Magazine extended its “Person of the Year” category in 2021 to include “Hero of the Year,” awarding the title to Graham and three other prominent vaccine scientists who developed the COVID-19 vaccine — Kizzmekia Corbett, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman.

NEWS 1/11/22 11:10pm

Rice adjusts to record-high COVID cases as students begin return

By Prayag Gordy

More than 326 Rice community members tested positive for COVID-19 from Jan. 3 to Jan. 10 as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly across the country. Through the entirety of the 2020-2021 academic year, Rice reported 367 cases. In response to the rise in cases, President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches announced over email that the first two weeks of most classes will be online. They also asked students to delay their return to campus, prohibited indoor dining, required vaccine boosters and reimplemented a full indoor mask mandate.

NEWS 1/11/22 11:04pm

Rice requires boosters for students and employees

By Prayag Gordy

All students and employees eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster are required to get one as soon as possible, unless granted a medical or religious exemption, according to an email from President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches.

NEWS 1/11/22 2:38pm

Rice named as one of 16 schools in financial aid lawsuit

By Ben Baker-Katz

Rice is one of 16 universities alleged to have broken federal antitrust laws by violating the terms of an exemption which allowed universities to use a shared method of calculating applicants’ financial needs. The plaintiffs allege that this shared method resulted in price-fixing and unfairly limited aid to students, according to a lawsuit filed Sunday.

NEWS 12/26/21 5:00pm

Classes to be online for first two weeks, booster now required

By Talha Arif

Courses will be delivered online for the first two weeks of the spring semester, and vaccine boosters will be required for all employees and students effective Jan. 10, according to an email sent Dec. 26 by President David Leebron and Provost Reginald DesRoches. This announcement follows a recent mask mandate reimplemented amidst the spread of the Omicron variant.

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