From the President: Fall Semester Preparations Update
July 31, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
August begins this weekend with our first group of students moving into residence
halls and increased activity in our preparations for the fall semester. Our semester
is proceeding against a continual news stream of infection and hospitalization rates,
medical updates regarding testing and vaccine development, and evolving plans from
local K-12 schools to large, national universities. The ongoing fluidity of our circumstances
place stress not just on students, but on our faculty and staff, many of whom are
responding to both the needs of the College and those of their families. We know that
continued flexibility remains important for them as well as our students.
Although some schools and many universities have recently announced a shift to complete
online instruction, we are moving forward with our blend of on-campus and online activity.
Unlike our local schools, our class sizes are significantly smaller, our students
older, our faculty-student ratios lower, and our facilities more conducive to the
blend of instruction for which our faculty and staff have prepared. Our approach to
campus residencies, hybrid instruction, and flexible work arrangements will significantly
reduce campus density. At the college/university level, many of the institutions that
have announced remote-only instructional plans are still offering some on-campus teaching
and learning, advising, residential living, and recreational activities. The collaborative
work of our faculty and staff has put us in an enviable position, as we are increasingly
well prepared to provide a range of campus and remote learning experiences. Our intention
of providing engaging, meaningful, and inclusive learning experiences continues to
result in considerable measures to mitigate the risks posed by Covid-19.
Those measures include securing testing equipment that will enable Westminster to
conduct free, on-campus Covid-19 testing for students, which will begin on August
3 with our early arrival residential students. Test results will be available that
day, often within 20 minutes. All residential students will be required to provide
a negative test result before move-in, either within 72 hours of coming to campus
if conducted off campus, or on-campus when they arrive. Students with a positive COVID-19
test will be required to quarantine for 10 days before moving into their campus residence
or attending in-person classes and events.
We realize that test results only reflect a moment in time, and that even with a negative
test result, an individual can contract the virus immediately after taking the test
or may have already contracted the virus before it can be identified through testing.
So, while a negative Covid-19 test will give us a useful baseline among our residential
students, the behaviors we adopt over the coming months will be far more important
in reducing risk.
First, know that the adherence to requirements regarding face coverings, social distancing,
and other Covid-19 related policies are expected by every member of our community,
consistent with other required conduct on campus. We will be providing brief, online
training modules regarding current safety protocols and policies before classes begin
and expect all faculty and staff to complete those modules by August 31. Mitigating
risk is a community responsibility; please read the College’s statement regarding Assumption of Risk, which describes shared agreements regarding the risk on campus and the effort the
College is making to mitigate the risk consistent with health-authority-recommended
practices.
Second, we ask that everyone open and read the emails and weekly Preparing for Fall
Semester newsletters with information about campus expectations and actions. (I recognize
the irony of emphasizing the need to read your email – in an email). Many of the questions
asked in open forums can be answered with reference to those communications and our
campus COVID-19 webpage.
Third, all staff, students and faculty must participate in symptom checking and contact
tracing. Utah’s Healthy Together app is an excellent resource for symptom checking and related health information, and
within the next two weeks we will be launching a contact tracing app that will provide
you with timely notification of potential exposure while preserving individual anonymity
and privacy. Please look for more information about this app in the coming week.
By next week, some students will already have moved onto campus, and all students
will know the primary mode of delivery for each of their courses. Within the next
two weeks, and for both those who have been on campus all summer and those who are
returning, we will have “welcome to campus” packages that include hand sanitizer and
a Westminster face mask. Orientation will also have begun for new students. Shortly
thereafter, our fall semester will be in full swing – albeit with many creative and
flexible responses to the health and safety needs of our community.
Throughout the summer, I’ve seen incredible energy and optimism in managing the uncertainty
of the present while also looking toward a promising future. Thank you for your care,
commitment, and support of our students and each other through this stressful and
challenging time.
Regards,
Beth
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