Employees: Continuing Our Commitment

Dec. 14, 2021

Dear colleagues,

This note is to make sure you are informed and up-to-date on COVID-19 expectations and protocols for the start of the spring semester.

But first, thank you for your ongoing and shared commitment to help keep our campus community as safe as possible in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including the threats presented by the Delta and Omicron variants.

We hope you will have a safe and festive holiday with your family and loved ones. As you enjoy the holiday season, we want you to be mindful of the following:

• Please limit your exposure. Also, please remember that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, is required to wear masks while indoors on campus.
• Practice physical distancing in group gatherings, as appropriate.
• For those who have fully completed a primary COVID-19 vaccination, you are eligible to receive the booster shot, and we encourage you to please do so.
• Monthly testing at an employee’s personal expense for those who are not vaccinated will be an ongoing expectation during spring semester. You can find local, southwest Michigan options for COVID-19 testing here.
• Please note that work-related travel further than 50 miles from our main campus will remain restricted for all those who are not vaccinated.
• We are slowly lifting the restrictions on international travel for study tours and other University business with the understanding that only vaccinated employees may travel and follow the expectations of the host country, the CDC and Andrews University. We will continue to monitor the emergence of the new Omicron variant and will issue a full statement on international travel in January. 
• With the emergence and spread of the Omicron variant, and the ongoing presence and significant impact of the Delta variant, we will continue to monitor and respond to travel restrictions. As a result, some previously approved study tours or University travel plans may be reevaluated.

As you may have read, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) is undergoing a legal challenge. While OSHA is “remaining confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future development in the litigation.”

If implemented, this OSHA ETS, with its expectations for vaccinations or frequent testing for those not vaccinated, would impact Andrews University and its employees (as will be the case for all U.S. organizations which employ 100 or more). Andrews University will continue to monitor this legal challenge and will update you on how it impacts you and the University once the final outcome is known. If you’re a contract employee working on our campus, e.g. through Dynamic Campus, Bon Appétit and Barnes & Noble, please confirm your employer’s expectations on the OSHA ETS directly with them.

Thank you once again for your shared commitment to our Community Covenant of Care, both this semester and in the new year and semester to come.

May God’s love and blessings surround you, your family and friends—and this world—in the holidays to come.

Andrea Luxton
President

Christon Arthur
Provost