School of Population and Public Health

Frequently Asked Questions

Why haven’t I heard from JJMSPPH?

All TTUHSC email accounts are offline. Dean Gerard Carrino sent a letter to all students enrolled in the Fall 2024 semester via secondary email address on Tuesday, October 1. The email was sent from JJMSPPH@gmail.com.

If you haven’t received this email:

Check the spam folder in your personal email account.
Add DeanJerryCarrino@gmail.com and JJMSPPH@gmail.com to your contacts list.
Send a message to JJMSPPH@gmail.com to be added to our emergency mailing list or to update your email address.

I’m a prospective student. How can I begin or continue my application?

Since we use a centralized application service (SOPHAS) that was unaffected by this outage, applications are still open and available for access. To begin or continue your application, please visit SOPHAS. The application deadline for the Spring Term is December 13, 2024. Deadlines for Summer and Fall will be in April 2025 and August 2025, respectively. If you have specific questions, please direct them to Corey Patterson, Director of Admissions, at his temporary email address: CoreyPattersonTTUHSC@gmail.com.

For Current Students:

What is happening with my current courses?

All assignments and exams are paused the week of September 30-October 6, 2024. This includes discussion boards, assignments, quizzes, tests or anything associated with a grade. Since access to Sakai is down, most of these modules are unavailable. Individual instructors may find alternative delivery methods for educational materials, but no assignments or exams will be due.

All face-to-face and synchronous Zoom classes – that is, classes that meet online or face-to-face on a specific day and time – are canceled from September 30-October 6, 2024.

We will communicate over the weekend with updates regarding classes, assignments and exams for next week. In the meantime, we encourage you to make the most of any existing materials you have, such as readings or project work.

When are we getting access to Sakai/online courses back?

TTUHSC Information Technology is currently working to restore course access. They will provide us with updates and a timeline as soon as possible. Continue to check this page and site for frequent updates.

Will we get extensions on assignment due dates?

Both students and instructors have been unable to access course materials, assignments or resources since September 29. Thus, assignments submitted through Sakai just prior to this time may not be graded and returned to students on schedule, and assignments due since this time (and at least through October 6) will not be due until later.

Soon after Sakai is operational, your instructor will share a revised syllabus with revised due dates where appropriate. The faculty and leadership of JJMSPPH are committed to accommodating students, so we will not impose unreasonable revised deadlines on any assignment that was materially affected by this outage. Please recognize, though, that we will make every effort to condense the remaining course material into the remaining weeks of the semester on a course-by-course basis.

Sakai went down on Sunday, Sept. 29, before I could submit my assignments/discussion board posts/quizzes. Will I get an extension on these?

Yes. Both students and instructors lost access to Sakai on Sunday, Sept. 29. Any materials due that day will be accommodated by professors.

Do I continue with my Applied Practice Experience (APE) work? Can I schedule my APE presentation?

Yes. You should continue your APE work if your partner organization and preceptor were unaffected by this outage. We understand that this outage may introduce some obstacles, such as shifting your email address and losing access to some materials; but we ask that you forge ahead as well as you can, and keep your preceptor, faculty advisor and APE Director apprised if the outage has affected your progress disproportionately.

We will pause scheduling any APE presentations at this time. Please direct APE questions to JJMSPPH@gmail.com, and we will get the message to Dr. Dennis.

Will this delay my graduation at the end of the semester?

We will continue to work with the Registrar on reasonable accommodations for all end-of-semester deadlines, including those for graduation.

I’m waiting on financial aid or a scholarship. Will this delay those decisions/notifications?

As of October 3, 2024, the systems that track and award financial aid, student bills and scholarships are inaccessible. The most current information on these concerns will be available at https://ttuhscinfo.com/. If you have additional questions, please contact us via email (JJMSPPH@gmail.com).

Can I reach my professor directly? If so, how?

To avoid confusion with too many communication channels, please direct correspondence with any professor to JJMSPPH@gmail.com. From there, we will forward to the appropriate professor’s working gmail and you can continue the conversation there.

What caused the outage?

Accurate updates regarding the outage will come from TTUHSC Information Technology via this website.

How will I know when everything is back up and running?

We will send emails to everyone’s secondary (non-TTUHSC) email address to provide instructions on how to log back in to Sakai, once it is operational. We will provide all relevant details in an email from JJMSPPH@gmail.com. Please check your non-TTUHSC email regularly to ensure you are getting these updates.

What should I do if I am a M.D./M.P.H. or Pharm.D./MPH student?

All questions regarding your MPH degree should be directed to JJMSPPH@gmail.com. We can address any questions or concerns about your joint degree through this email address. For questions in your other program (School of Medicine, School of Pharmacy), please reach out to your respective schools using their updated contact information posted here: https://ttuhscinfo.com/.