We are excited to welcome you back as we move closer to the start of another spring semester at CSU. We truly hope you had an enjoyable holiday break that provided an opportunity to spend time with family, relax and recharge.
Given our track record of success during the last year in providing a safe on-campus experience – thanks to our strong COVID safety protocols and your commitment to compliance and safe behaviors – we remain deeply committed to providing a near-full slate of on-campus classes and activities for our students this spring. Our plan is to begin the spring 2022 semester as scheduled on January 18.
To do this successfully – as we have done throughout the pandemic – we will be updating our safety guidelines and protocols for spring semester, consistent with CDC guidelines and best practices. During the next 10 days, we will be communicating with you the specifics on how we plan to operate this spring and some additional services that will be available. As part of our communication plan, Provost Bloomberg and I would like to invite you to join us for a liveFacebook Town Hall meeting on Thursday, January 13 at 1 p.m., when we will present an overview of our plans for spring and address your questions.
We fully understand that the Omicron variant and recent surge in COVID cases in Northeast Ohio and across the country presents a new challenge to our community and ability to “stay the course” in our on-campus approach. Nonetheless, we know that face-to-face teaching and learning is critical to the success of our students, is good for our collective mental health, reduces social isolation, and advances student progression and graduation rates. With our continuing investments in safety-related practices, we believe we can provide our faculty and staff with the support and flexibility needed to continue serving our students in the best way possible.
As we transition from the “pandemic” to “endemic” phase of COVID-19, we are confident that we can work together to operate effectively in our “new normal.”
We will have more to share at next week’s Town Hall. In the meantime, stay safe.
Sincerely,
Harlan M. Sands President Cleveland State University
