Dear colleagues:
We are now approximately a month away from the planned start of the fall semester, and Clemson continues to prepare for opening with students on campus, blended learning modalities and many layers of public health risk mitigations.
At the same time, we remain acutely aware of the continued progression of COVID-19 in South Carolina and the Upstate. We want to assure you that our final decisions about fall opening will be tied both to the infection rates of the disease and our ability to mitigate and contain its spread. As we have said from the start, the safety of our University community is paramount.
As the scheduled start of the fall semester nears, we also intend to step up our communication with employees. In addition to these updates, which will continue, please stay tuned for an announcement soon on upcoming town hall meetings to which all Clemson staff and faculty will be invited to participate virtually.
We have been steadily integrating improved evidence-based knowledge into our plans to mitigate public health risks. In previous communications we have provided updates on these, particularly testing strategies, social distancing and face coverings.
Much progress also has been made on quarantine strategies, student housing (move-in dates and densities) and contact tracing. Automated workflows that lead to rapid responses when an infection is discovered are being constructed. We plan to make the workflows easy for all employees to find and use. For example, when someone tests positive for COVID, messages will be automatically sent to instructors or supervisors, appropriate cleaning and quarantine protocols will be implemented, and any other necessary downstream tasks or notification will be initiated.
Some new developments include a recent purchase of face shields to be used by instructors during lecture or lab courses (protocols on their use will be coming out shortly), and a new tool for supervisors to track return to campus dates for those employees who need to be on campus for some or all of their work hours.
Many of you have questions about academic decisions and plans for fall. Below is an abbreviated project management table that provides information on some of the most important items, including an Instructional Playbook for blended learning that will include some of the items below as appendices.
In each of the processes above, staff, faculty, administrators, and sometimes undergraduate and graduate students are engaged in the planning. While preparations for returning to campus during the COVID-19 pandemic have been very challenging and time-consuming, we remain strongly committed to the safety of students and employees, building a better campus climate and helping our students and employees deal with many new obstacles and challenges related to COVID-19, international affairs, inclusivity, and the economy.
Sincerely,
Bob Jones
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Tony Wagner
Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations
Sue Whorton
President, Staff Senate
John Whitcomb
President, Faculty Senate