Andrews University Agenda

Andrews University Agenda http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/ News and Events at Andrews University en-us Copyright 2024, Andrews University Thu, 21 Nov 2024 10:42:00 +0000 Thu, 21 Nov 2024 10:42:00 +0000 webmaster@andrews.edu webmaster@andrews.edu Updates on COVID-19 Protocol Changes http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/62534 March 28, 2023 Dear Andrews University community, Just over three years ago, on March 23, 2020, Andrews University’s Berrien Springs campus made a significant choice in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic and joined with thousands of other schools across the country in making a switch to a period of distance learning to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Since then, our campus, and our country and world, have all gone through tremendous changes, including our return to in-person learning for fall semester 2020 with careful COVID-19 protocols in place, including masking, physical distancing and COVID-19 vaccinations for those who chose to receive them. Those efforts and more have made a measurable difference. At the end of this 2023 spring semester, following May graduation services, Andrews University will take a number of significant steps as we move fully and completely into a future beyond the direct threat and risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those steps include the following: <ul> <li> We will no longer require the reporting or tracking of COVID-19 exposures or cases.</li> <li> The <a href="mailto:covid19@andrews.edu">covid19@andrews.edu</a> email address used over the last three years will be retired; if you have questions about COVID-19 within your own area or department, please make contact with your direct supervisor or administrator.</li> <li> We will no longer provide isolation rooms for our residence hall students with a positive COVID-19 test and will respond to these cases the same as other illnesses.</li> <li> As with other illnesses, employees and students are strongly encouraged to remain in their residence (including residence hall room) when they are ill, and not go to work or classes. In these situations, notify your supervisor or teachers accordingly.</li> </ul> Our campus and our world have been able to move forward due to the commitment and work of each one of us and what we’ve been able to do together in our campus community. Thank you for that commitment and for the personal accommodations and sacrifices that each one of you have made in different ways over the last three years. May God continue to bless our campus with health and safety for this new road ahead. Sincerely, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Tue, 28 Mar 2023 14:15:17 +0000 Students: COVID-19 Updates, 2022-2023 School Year http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/61015 August 11, 2022 Dear students, It’s exciting to be making our final preparations for the new 2022–2023 school year, and we can’t wait to have you here on our Berrien Springs campus—whether you’re returning to continue your studies or joining us for the first time. We make those plans for the new school year as many COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines have continued to change, or even be relaxed, in the United States and around the world. Even so, we will continue to each have important shared responsibilities for the health and safety of the Andrews community here on our Berrien Springs campus. Please note that it is still not possible to completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19 infection. Nevertheless, each one of us in our University community must continue to take significant steps to help significantly reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19 infection by continuing to protect and care for our own and others’ health and safety—which includes strengthening our immunity through healthy lifestyle choices, frequent hand washing and sanitizing, making the choice to wear face masks in extended, close contact with others, and choosing to be up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccinations (which continue to be strongly encouraged but not required). At this point, there will be no required formal campus-wide COVID-19 testing this school year, however it’s important for anyone who’s symptomatic or ill to self-test for COVID-19 (see local testing options <a href="http://bchdmi.org/1692/Testing-for-COVID-19">here</a>). If you do test positive, please report that test result using this <a href="https://forms.gle/MT8ozW1rkytrYhhj8">Google form</a>. Those shared responsibilities also mean making the responsible choice to stay in your residence hall room, apartment or home when you’re sick, regardless of your illness, to help protect your own health and the health of our community. If you’re in our residence halls, there are specific Residence Hall Isolation guidelines to follow if you are sick with COVID-19; you can read more about those <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/index.html#collapse-2-8">here</a>. Please carefully review the revised and updated information on our Andrews University COVID-19 <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/index.html">website</a>. In particular, please review the <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/covenant-of-care/index.html">2022–2023 Community Covenant of Care</a> and the accompanying <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/statement_of_shared_responsibility.pdf">Statement of Responsibility</a>, which both apply to you as a student as well as to all members of the Andrews University community on our Berrien Springs campus. As has been true throughout this pandemic, our mitigation protocols can and will change if the direct COVID-19 risks increase in our southwest Michigan community. May God bless you and our campus community as we share in the responsibilities described here and <a href="http://andrews.edu/go/changingworld">online</a>, as we each commit to caring for each other. Once again, we eagerly await for you to join us as we begin this new school year together. With care, Frances Faehner Vice President for Campus & Student Life Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:52:58 +0000 Employees: COVID-19 Updates, 2022-2023 School Year http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/61014 August 11, 2022 Dear colleagues, It’s exciting to be making our final preparations for the new 2022–2023 school year. We make those plans as many COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines have continued to change, or even be relaxed, in the United States and around the world. Even so, we will continue to each have important shared responsibilities for the health and safety of the Andrews community here on our Berrien Springs campus. Please note that it is still not possible to completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19 infection. Nevertheless, each one of us as faculty and staff must continue to take significant steps to help significantly reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19 infection by continuing to protect and care for our own and others’ health and safety—which includes keeping up our immunity through healthy lifestyle choices, frequent hand washing and sanitizing, making the choice to wear face masks in extended, close contact with others, and choosing to be up-to-date on our COVID-19 vaccinations (which continue to be strongly encouraged but not required). At this point, there will be no required formal campus-wide COVID-19 testing this school year, however it’s important for anyone who’s symptomatic or ill to self-test for COVID-19 (see local testing options <a href="http://bchdmi.org/1692/Testing-for-COVID-19">here</a>). Those shared responsibilities also mean making the responsible choice to stay home when you’re sick, regardless of your illness, to help protect your own health and the health of our community. If you do test positive, please report that test result using this <a href="https://forms.gle/MT8ozW1rkytrYhhj8">Google form</a>. The University also currently has no employee travel restrictions in place this school year. We do recommend that you take personal precautions, such as wearing masks when traveling and keeping vaccinations up to date as another layer of protection. Be sure to confirm vaccination (COVID-19 or other vaccination) requirements at your travel destination before beginning your travel—this will be a requirement when you are leading a student group in travel. If you haven’t visited it recently, please carefully review the revised and updated information on our Andrews University COVID-19 <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/index.html">website</a>. In particular, please review the revised <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/covenant-of-care/index.html">2022–2023 Community Covenant of Care</a> and the accompanying <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/statement_of_shared_responsibility.pdf">Statement of Responsibility</a>, which both apply to all members of the Andrews University community on our Berrien Springs campus. As has been true throughout this pandemic, our mitigation protocols can and will change if the direct COVID-19 risks increase in our southwest Michigan community. We are grateful for the care and commitment you have offered as Andrews University employees during this challenging COVID-19 journey, now nearly two and a half years long. As we begin a new school year, may God bless our campus as we share responsibilities and commit to keeping each other safe and healthy. Cordially, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:50:59 +0000 COVID-19: Summer Semester Updates http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/60527 May 17, 2022 Dear Andrews University family, As we move into this summer semester, we wanted to share a brief overview of how we will approach COVID-19 treatment and safety protocols in the months ahead here on our Berrien Springs campus. The overall approach will be to begin decentralizing certain aspects of our COVID-19 management to have our approach to COVID-19 managed similarly to how other illnesses, such as the seasonal flu, are approached in our community. The areas affected will include case management, academics and residence life. As we make these modifications, it’s important that our processes continue to be guided by current CDC/MDHHS case management guidelines and local transmission data. In our current context, with increasing COVID-19 cases in some parts of the United States, it continues to be essential that each one of us can and must assume personal responsibility and accountability. For campus case management <ul> <li> Isolation/Quarantine Guidelines—As case guidelines adjust to match transmission risks, individuals should continue to seek the most up-to-date guidance directly from the <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/contain-covid">Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS)</a>. The campus will be expected to follow these guidelines without immediate direction from the University’s COVID-19 Team. Other than the specific guidelines provided by MDHHS, individuals on campus will be strongly encouraged to stay home whenever sick to help keep our community as safe and healthy as possible.</li> <li> Changes to case management will include the following: <ul> <li> Reporting—The campus will continue to be required to report COVID-19 positive tests, related symptoms, and/or exposures. To facilitate a smooth transition between centralized and decentralized case management, our campus will no longer use #CampusClear as the reporting tool. The campus will use an online, <a href="https://forms.gle/MT8ozW1rkytrYhhj8">Google-based form</a> that will be submitted to Student Life or Human Resources as appropriate. Individuals will need to access the form using their Andrews username and password. The primary intent of this reporting will be for our University to be able to monitor on-campus COVID-19 transmission to help inform and adapt mitigation protocols when needed. <ul> <li> Reporting these COVID-19 exposures will not result in automatic contact with the individual by the COVID-19, Student Life or Human Resources teams. Instead, individuals reporting are expected to follow the most up-to-date MDHHS guidelines. Also, faculty or staff requiring assistance should contact Human Resources, residence hall students should contact the residence hall dean on duty and community students should contact the Student Life office.</li> </ul> </li> <li> Contact Tracing—Individuals testing positive will be expected to personally notify their own close contacts of the exposure. The CDC has provided <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/tell-your-contacts.html">resources</a> on how you can identify close contacts and how to personally talk with them about their exposure when needed.</li> <li> Additional Support—Our COVID-19 Team will continue to remain available for additional support/unique questions, even though they will not be actively managing campus cases day-to-day as the campus is expected to self-manage, as described above. <ul> <li> The best way to reach out is by email: <a href="mailto:covid19@andrews.edu">covid19@andrews.edu</a>.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li> Testing Supplies. Off-campus testing options can be found through the <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/contain-covid/test">MDHHS</a>. Additionally, a small quantity of COVID-19 testing supplies will be maintained on campus for unique circumstances, including symptomatic residence hall students without access to a vehicle.</li> <li> Website. Continue to consult <a href="https://andrews.edu/go/changingworld">andrews.edu/go/changingworld</a> for updated COVID-19 information. <ul> <li> The website will continue to provide a University Dashboard, which will be updated periodically. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> For classroom settings <ul> <li> Initial COVID-19 testing/screening for students and faculty will not be required for the summer 2022 semester.</li> <li> iVue will no longer be used to designate a student’s cleared/not cleared status to attend classes.</li> <li> When needed, teachers will work directly with students unable to attend classes to determine remote learning options and absences.</li> </ul> For residence life <ul> <li> Minimal isolation spaces for positive cases will be maintained for the summer.</li> <li> Residence hall students should coordinate isolation needs directly with their residence hall deans.</li> </ul> Other <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/index.html#section-2">University protocols</a>, such as travel or masking (optional for all), will remain in place for the summer semester. As a reminder, there are currently no COVID-19 restrictions for guests or events on-campus. Most importantly, we continue to be committed to understanding and responding to the risks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic which may change or possibly increase. If that should occur, Andrews University can and will carefully increase COVID-19 mitigation steps to help ensure health and safety for our campus. Thank you for your incredible work and continued commitment as Andrews University and each one of you have responded to the risks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years. Cordially, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Tue, 17 May 2022 14:52:27 +0000 Care in COVID-19 Safety Measures Still Matters http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/60343 April 8, 2022 Dear Andrews community, While overall COVID-19 trends have been encouraging, the importance of COVID-19 safety practices in our community is underscored by recent campus and Berrien County trends. Unfortunately, these show an increase in positive cases accompanied by a higher level of close contact and exposure for our community, including right here on our campus. So, please take care as we work to keep ourselves and our Andrews University family safe and as we all work together and yearn for a world beyond COVID-19. Sincerely, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Fri, 08 Apr 2022 13:21:56 +0000 Masking Now Optional Indoors & Outside http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/60143 March 11, 2022 Dear Andrews community, Exactly two years ago today we shared a <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/agenda/55702">letter</a> with our campus describing the growing and direct impact of the new global COVID-19 pandemic on our Andrews University campus and local community. Among other things, that March 11, 2020, letter announced the University’s decision to move to remote learning—a shift echoed at that time by our sister universities as well as throughout most of higher education as we all responded to the significant local, national and global risks of COVID-19 for our university communities. Today’s letter announces another significant step in Andrews University’s journey through the global COVID-19 pandemic. This decision, which announces a key change to our COVID-19 indoor and outdoor masking expectations for our University’s main campus, is effective immediately. It’s a decision that has been driven specifically by the recent significant and sustained reduction of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in our local southwest Michigan community, a shift that has also been accompanied by a dramatic and sustained decrease in infection rates on our own campus. With those positive changes in indicators within our community and on our own campus, as of today, March 11, masking is now optional (both inside and outside) on our main Berrien Springs campus. Some ongoing COVID-19 safety protocols and measures will remain important and will continue to be encouraged. Those include the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots for those who choose to receive them and the personal choice by some to continue to wear masks on campus as a measure of additional protection. Also, please note that if a faculty, staff member or student feels uncomfortable or unsafe when interacting with students and others in a classroom or another confined space on campus (or for an extended trip in a University vehicle off campus), then those individuals do have the right to ask that a mask be worn by others in those spaces, but those individuals may not mandate mask usage. In addition, those who participate in University-sponsored international travel, including study tours through the upcoming summer semester, will need to be fully vaccinated—one or two doses, depending on the COVID-19 vaccine—to take part in those activities (a booster COVID-19 vaccination will not be required to take part). You can review those current University travel guidelines <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/index.html#collapse-2-9">here</a>. As we reflect on these past two remarkable and challenging years, we wanted to let you know that we are both grateful for the ongoing shared <a href="https://www.andrews.edu/worldchangers/changingworld/covenant-of-care/index.html">commitment</a>, sacrifice and care you have all offered to one another and for our entire Andrews community throughout this journey. While this global COVID-19 pandemic represents a journey that will likely continue to impact our individual lives, our communities and our world in some ways, we are grateful for what today’s decision represents as a specific step forward. Most of all, we are thankful for what this change represents as we together eagerly anticipate, hope and pray about what our lives and our communities will be like as we seek to some day move more fully beyond the impact and realities of this global COVID-19 pandemic. May God indeed bless our road together as we move forward toward those goals. Sincerely, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Fri, 11 Mar 2022 12:01:44 +0000 March 1: Masks & COVID-19 Protocols Confirmation http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/60043 March 1, 2022 Dear campus community, We apologize for any confusion on campus that may have come from our Feb. 17 message documenting what would change beginning today regarding our COVID-19 indoor masking protocols. To summarize: Starting today, March 1, masks are now optional everywhere except: <ul> <li style="margin-left: 40px;"> Classes</li> <li style="margin-left: 40px;"> Large indoor seating gatherings for church/worship services, assemblies and Howard Performing Arts Center events</li> <li style="margin-left: 40px;"> Cafeteria lines and serving areas in Dining Services/Terrace Café</li> <li style="margin-left: 40px;"> Campus vehicles</li> </ul> We will review and, as needed, revise and update these masking guidelines after spring break ends on Sunday, March 27. Thanks to each one of you for continuing to support our Andrews University COVID-19 protocols as we take these important steps forward in loosening our protocols and welcoming the world beyond the still active global COVID-19 pandemic. Sincerely, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Tue, 01 Mar 2022 21:34:45 +0000 Updates on COVID-19 Protocols and Changes http://www.andrews.edu/agenda/59987 Feb. 17, 2022 Dear Andrews University community, We continue to monitor the changing environment and now growing hope that surrounds the current situation with the global COVID-19 pandemic, especially as it relates to current statistics and case trends for Andrews University, Berrien County and southwest Michigan. In light of that current context, on March 1 Andrews University will move to mask-optional expectations for most public places on campus. Please note, however, that for the time being the use of masks indoors at Andrews University will continue to be an expectation in classrooms, in the lines and serving areas of the cafeteria, and in large gatherings across campus (such as New Life Fellowship, One Place Fellowship and Andrews University programs in Pioneer Memorial Church and the Howard Performing Arts Center). Use of masks will also remain important when you share vehicles with others and especially while in University vans and buses. Further relaxation of these and other COVID-19 safety protocols will be considered in late March, following our spring semester break. However, please note that as these or other protocols are relaxed, Andrews University also reserves the right to reverse its plans where needed and where there are new or significant risks to our campus community. Thanks for the significant support each of you have offered, and will continue to offer to each other, throughout our Andrews University family as we now reach the two-year mark of this global COVID-19 pandemic journey and as we continue to look forward with hope. Sincerely, Andrea Luxton President Christon Arthur Provost Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:57:47 +0000