I am much more on track than I have been and things seem to be going forward nicely at this time. I have decided to return to the idea of weekly blogs as the number of entries is getting quiet large at this point. I will continue to denote daily what I do, but I am opting to post less frequently.

As promised, a little bit on the adoption of Pita and Piper. It is really difficult to get them in a photo together, as they are adjusting after moving to a new home and being spayed; they don't really like to be around each other at the moment. I also think there is something wrong with my phone camera, as every photo I take is not very clear. I do have the DSLR, but trying to grab that in time to take a photo would be near impossible.

So our intention was to adopt an older bonded pair to give them a nice home in their latter years. I worked with Passion 4 Paws to find the right pair. After well over a month of not finding a match for our personalities and really lack of bonded pairs, a unique and urgent situation presented itself. Pita (the tiger) and Piper (the tortoiseshell ) are 1.5 years old. I knew I couldn't handle kittens and the idea was to rescue cats that had less of a chance of finding a home. These girls had a loving owner that fell on some hard times and needed to re-home them. I can tell this because, as they continue to adjust, they are becoming more glued to us and sometimes become temporary lap cats.

I was not sure I could handle the youngsters, as they posed quite a challenge the first days, especially Piper. Piper is an escape artist that had me nearly to the point of tears. There are many nooks in crannies in this older home and she managed to find ones I forgot about. The first night she managed to escape into the basement through the laundry chute. We no longer have a laundry chute. The second night, after a valiant try opening the sealed laundry chute, she decided to go upwards. If it wasn't for Pita pointing me to the bathroom closet both days, I wouldn't have believed it. There she was on the top shelf. When I went to fetch her she managed to find an access point to the drop ceiling. That was a fun job getting her out of there. So lesson learned, bathroom door stays closed. I relaxed a little and forgot to close the door at one point. There she was again on the top shelf. This time though she didn't fight to get taken down. Progress! It took a few days for the anesthesia to wear off, but since then, the girls have been great with us, just not so much with each other. We'll give it some time and I am sure they will become best friends again.

• Read, Responded to, and initiated loads of emails
• Held extremely beneficial phone meeting with Graphics Chair at CCSU
• Phone meeting with Audio Instructor to help flesh out Audio courses
• Phone meeting with Animation Instructor to help flesh out 2D and 3D Courses
• Follow-up emails to key instructors/chairs at multiple universities
• Began setting up meetings for redesigning courses with DAT adjunct faculty
• Researched and requested information regarding fall 2020 semester classroom, hardware, and software concerns
• Placed book overdue orders for summer and fall classes
• Dread set in while thinking about filling out all the new CEAC paperwork - best option is to bill it as a new program

There was no way I would have ever been able to redesign this curriculum without sabbatical. The courses contained in the program overall have weathered the two decades relatively well. Only some have changed significantly enough to warrant a new course name and over 20% of the content. All the ones that have not already gone through review (DAT 101, 102, GRA 150 have been completed) need a complete update on the course outcomes. Course descriptions will need changes, some more than others. So that is only 19 courses, one unified program instead of three options, and the alteration of the four current certificates into five distinct ones. That translates to paperwork for everything I mentioned in the last sentence plus paperwork to discontinue the three options and whatever paperwork is necessary to change/add certificates. Thankfully the amount of assistance I have received from colleagues (faculty and staff), other CSU staff, faculty and chairs, and universities faculty and staff across the country has given me solid information to influence the changes being made. It is horrible, but the redesign has come at the most opportune time, as DAT students are uniquely positioned to respond to the needs that have blossomed due to COVID-19 forcing so much to be handled digitally these days. This redesign prepares all types of students to create high quality digital content while allowing flexibility for them to follow their unique paths. More on this in the future.