This update for faculty and staff from the Ready & Resilient Committee offers an overview of what to expect during the summer and next academic year.
Colleagues,
The R&R recommendations for Summer and Fall 2021, which have been reviewed by Staff Advisory Council and Academic Council, are now posted on the faculty-staff R&R page here. Also posted on the R&R site is an infographic providing an overview of what to expect next academic year.
Objectives
In light of rapidly changing conditions and research, these recommendations are intended to assist our community in moving forward with significantly eased restrictions, while preparing for a range of conditions. We have included input and suggestions of many on campus and have left room for changing guidelines from governmental and health authorities over the summer.
Document Structure
Three Sections, Two Sets of Conditions
After the introduction, the recommendations appear within charts in three sections:
- Community Health and Well-Being
- Academic Operations and Instructional Spaces
- Campus Life, Operations, Events, and Visitors.
Because we anticipate that improving conditions, vaccine availability, and progress toward herd immunity will allow for eased restrictions, we have provided recommendations for lower risk conditions. In case of a surge or increased presence of the virus, we have also included policies, procedures, and recommendations for higher risk conditions.
All recommendations will be subject to change based on conditions, state, and local guidelines, etc.
Next Steps/Caveats
- This document was originally drafted in March and April 2021, knowing that conditions, research, and CDC and state policies/guidelines would be changing rapidly in the weeks and months ahead.
- We expect that individual departments will use these recommendations to develop their own unit-level plans. We have proposed that deans and vice presidents and deans work with individual units to: 1) Gather what has been learned during the past year, and 2) ensure 2021-2022 plans are developed based on the attached recommendations by July 15.
- While we have recommended achieving the highest possible level of vaccine protection, either through a student vaccination requirement or other policies that encourage vaccination, we understand that a vaccine requirement is a larger institutional decision that will be made in the coming weeks.
We hope these recommendations will help you in planning for a healthy summer and fall. Please let us know if you would like to have a member of R&R attend a meeting to help with your planning or answer any questions,
The Ready & Resilient Committee
- Jeff Stein, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Professor of English (Chair)
- Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
- Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
- MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
- John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
- Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
- Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
- Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
- Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
- Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
- Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
- Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
- Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
- Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
- Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
- Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education