Jeff Foster, Interim Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students, updates the campus community on the recent increase in COVID-19 cases on campus.
Dear Students,
Later today, you will receive our weekly Friday Dashboard email. I wanted to write to you in advance to provide you with an important update.
Based on the student COVID test results we have received this week, we are experiencing a rise in positive cases on campus—from 0 last week to 10 currently. There are still a small number of tests outstanding and we will be updating the COVID Dashboard soon to include these positive cases. Per our protocols, we are in the process of notifying all positive students, relocating students to isolation and quarantine space, and working through our contact tracing process to understand if the cases are isolated to certain affinity groups.
While an uptick this semester is not altogether surprising, given what is known about the virus and how rapidly it can be spread from one individual to another, we would be wise to take this as a moment to pause, to reflect on all we have accomplished to date, and to redouble our efforts in keeping our community safe and healthy.
We must remain vigilant and make decisions this weekend and the upcoming week that will enable us to continue to have the kind of safe spring semester we’ve all worked so hard to obtain to this point. Please continue to carefully follow all COVID health and safety policies including masking, distancing, and limits on gatherings.
Let’s work together to bring our student cases back down this week. It is my hope, by informing you of this shift now, that we can direct our focus on what we need to do individually and collectively to make this goal come to fruition.
Sincerely,
Jeff Foster, D.Ed.
Interim Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students