Dear Colleagues,
The System Office is preparing for the possibility that SO staff will need to work from home. Please see the communication linked below, which was sent to all presidents moments ago.
From: Glenn DuBois
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 2:18 PM
To: vccs_presidents
Cc: state_board_members, system_office_cabinet
Subject: COVID-19
Presidents,
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetime. I applaud the steps that you are taking to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and faculty as you respond to this evolving threat to your campus and community.
As you have observed, the efforts being undertaken at international, national, state, and local levels to reduce the spread of an infection like COVID-19 and the plans being made to safeguard our communities are dynamic. Accordingly, any guidance we pass along will be interim in nature, using the best information available to us at the moment. As noted in previous communications, we are relying on the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other state and local departments for expert guidance. I encourage you to remain connected directly to those sources for the latest information on the virus.
Today, there are a growing number of cases in Virginia, with others awaiting CDC confirmation.
While cases have been reported in the communities supported by many of our colleges, each of our colleges place the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and faculty at the forefront of their work and are taking prudent precautions and actions. I believe that you, our presidents, are best positioned to make informed decisions that match the conditions and needs of your community. Beyond reviewing and updating your Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP), I am requesting the following of each community college, as a baseline:
• Accelerate planning necessary to deliver instruction via online platforms;
• Support social distancing by reducing large gatherings when possible;
• Review absenteeism policies to ensure students and employees are appropriately discouraged from coming to campus when ill; (see the latest guidance from DHRM, available to your chief human resource officer, on the public health emergency leave policy)
• Reduce all non-essential, professional domestic and international travel;
• Solicit disclosures from employees and students on recent or planned travel to countries with heightened health notices and follow CDC guidance for employees and students identified as having traveled to countries with heightened health notices; (the guidance could include social distancing, depending on the country visited)
• Take steps to ensure that staff and faculty are prepared to work from home;
• Report to the Chancellor’s Office (with a copy to Craig Herndon and Kim Hobert) any significant actions that you are taking relative to closures and to modifications in service or instruction.
As we monitor news from our community and guidance from the experts, we will update our guidance as frequently as necessary. Presidents, you are empowered and encouraged to take additional steps as needed.
Knowing the public health concerns associated with travel and large gatherings and knowing that your primary focus is on supporting the welfare of your community, I have asked that all meetings led by the System Office in the remainder of the month be moved online or be rescheduled to a time when the risks of meeting face-to-face is better understood and lessened. We will monitor conditions in the week to come and advise by Monday, March 23, on whether the New Horizons conference, scheduled for April 15-17, will proceed as planned.
Glenn
The System Office is preparing for the possibility that SO staff will need to work from home. Please see the communication linked below, which was sent to all presidents moments ago.
From: Glenn DuBois
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2020 2:18 PM
To: vccs_presidents
Cc: state_board_members, system_office_cabinet
Subject: COVID-19
Presidents,
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetime. I applaud the steps that you are taking to prioritize the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and faculty as you respond to this evolving threat to your campus and community.
As you have observed, the efforts being undertaken at international, national, state, and local levels to reduce the spread of an infection like COVID-19 and the plans being made to safeguard our communities are dynamic. Accordingly, any guidance we pass along will be interim in nature, using the best information available to us at the moment. As noted in previous communications, we are relying on the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other state and local departments for expert guidance. I encourage you to remain connected directly to those sources for the latest information on the virus.
Today, there are a growing number of cases in Virginia, with others awaiting CDC confirmation.
While cases have been reported in the communities supported by many of our colleges, each of our colleges place the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and faculty at the forefront of their work and are taking prudent precautions and actions. I believe that you, our presidents, are best positioned to make informed decisions that match the conditions and needs of your community. Beyond reviewing and updating your Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP), I am requesting the following of each community college, as a baseline:
• Accelerate planning necessary to deliver instruction via online platforms;
• Support social distancing by reducing large gatherings when possible;
• Review absenteeism policies to ensure students and employees are appropriately discouraged from coming to campus when ill; (see the latest guidance from DHRM, available to your chief human resource officer, on the public health emergency leave policy)
• Reduce all non-essential, professional domestic and international travel;
• Solicit disclosures from employees and students on recent or planned travel to countries with heightened health notices and follow CDC guidance for employees and students identified as having traveled to countries with heightened health notices; (the guidance could include social distancing, depending on the country visited)
• Take steps to ensure that staff and faculty are prepared to work from home;
• Report to the Chancellor’s Office (with a copy to Craig Herndon and Kim Hobert) any significant actions that you are taking relative to closures and to modifications in service or instruction.
As we monitor news from our community and guidance from the experts, we will update our guidance as frequently as necessary. Presidents, you are empowered and encouraged to take additional steps as needed.
Knowing the public health concerns associated with travel and large gatherings and knowing that your primary focus is on supporting the welfare of your community, I have asked that all meetings led by the System Office in the remainder of the month be moved online or be rescheduled to a time when the risks of meeting face-to-face is better understood and lessened. We will monitor conditions in the week to come and advise by Monday, March 23, on whether the New Horizons conference, scheduled for April 15-17, will proceed as planned.
Glenn