Dear Colleagues,
We begin with a note of thanks and gratitude. Over the past weeks, our entire community has worked with ever-changing conditions to support our students and one another. Many of our faculty and staff have adjusted their plans to ensure students have access to high quality curricular and co-curricular opportunities. Moreover, our Public Health team, COVID-19 Operations team, Housing and Residence Life teams, Student Life staff, and Health Ambassadors have worked tirelessly to keep the community safe. We are grateful for all of these efforts.
As previously announced, we will return fully to in-person learning on Monday, January 31, in order to promote engaged learning and community engagement. We want to provide you with several key pieces of information that will help reduce risk and enhance safety. This information is also available in a recording from our town hall.
Exemptions to In-Person Instruction: While the vast majority of classes will be offered in-person, we will support a focused number of requests from faculty to teach online for the remainder of the term:
- Medical Exemption: Faculty with an underlying medical condition associated with high risk for severe COVID-19 can seek formal accommodation to teach online through the accommodation process managed by the Department of Human Resources. This process requires documentation supporting the request for online teaching accommodation from a medical professional. If you have not previously done so, submit a request using this form. Human Resources will then contact you to discuss the accommodation process and the required documentation. Such accommodations pertain only to qualifying underlying medical conditions of a faculty member him- or herself—not to that of a household member.
- COVID-19 Emergency: Faculty with a demonstrated COVID-19 emergency (e.g., family emergency, illness, quarantine, school closure, day care closure) may request to teach online for a portion of the winter 2022 term (spring for Law and the Jesuit School of Theology). To apply, submit a request using this form.
- Leave of Absence: Faculty may request a leave of absence, utilizing the standard procedures for Faculty Leaves. Depending on the circumstances, this leave may be paid or unpaid.
Flexible Pedagogy: As described in the 2021-22 Course Administration Expectations, all faculty members may design their courses to deliver as much as 30% of the course content in an online or hybrid format. This ratio may be applied to the remainder of the term, irrespective of the modality that faculty adopted in weeks 1-4, though we strongly encourage as much in-person and/or synchronous interaction between faculty and students as possible.
Testing: All faculty and staff are encouraged to test weekly with Color. Test kits can be picked up in the following buildings: Benson Center, Charney Hall, Dowd Art and Art History, Guadalupe Hall (Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services, 1st floor), Lucas Hall, SCDI, St Joseph's Hall, Vari Hall, and the front desk at JST. Completed samples can be dropped off at these same locations.
All faculty and staff can also access free tests using the following resources from the federal and local government: www.covidtests.gov; covid19.sccgov.org/covid-19-testing
KN95 Masks: All community members are required to wear masks indoors. The University has a supply of KN95 masks that are available for faculty and staff. Please stop by the Provost’s Office or the Jesuit School of Theology to pick one up. There also is a supply of surgical masks in each classroom.
Booster Vaccination and Clinics: Faculty, staff, and students must obtain a COVID-19 booster vaccination as soon as they are eligible. The University will host a second booster clinic on Friday, January 28. Please register for a booster appointment directly with our partner, Carbon Health, who will be running the clinic for the University. There is no cost, and no insurance is needed. You must bring your SCU ID, state issued ID, and your vaccination card to the clinic. If you have problems registering, contact scu-support@carbonhealth.com for help.
Health and Safety: Since the start of the pandemic, we have seen the community’s ability to slow the spread of COVID-19 by taking concrete actions to promote health and safety. We ask for your continued help by washing or sanitizing hands frequently throughout the day; practicing good cough and sneeze hygiene; and reporting positive COVID-19 test results if the test was administered off-campus.
As we return to in-person learning, we are thankful for your continued efforts to provide high quality educational experiences to our students. As a community, we will work together to support our students and to support one another.
Respectfully,
Kate Morris and Ed Ryan
Acting Provosts