Dear Bereans,
This is the campus update for Monday, November 15, 2021.
Quarantine, testing and vaccination update
There are currently no students in any sort of quarantine. As to on-campus employees, we have three persons in isolation (Edwards Hall, Fairchild, and Stephenson) and three close contacts, one each in the Goldthwait, Stephenson, and Facilities. We also have one PFE employee who has tested positive, but that person does not work on campus.
Another child at the CDL has tested positive for COVID, necessitating the closure of two classrooms until the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Also related to the CDL, a number of us gathered there yesterday to unveil a new bench on the playground. The bench honors Ms. Wilma Chambers, our previous director. Sadly, we lost Wilma to a tragic automobile accident several years ago. Wilma’s husband Orlando, her daughter Cassie Chambers Armstrong, and some other family members were able to join us along with CDL staff members, many parents, some current and some from the time when Wilma worked there. Thanks so much to Tammy Carter, Laurie Roelofs, and Kristin Dalessio for their work in arranging the event.
Our overall employee vaccination percentage remains at 90%, and, for non-PFE employees, our percentage is 91.8%.
Important announcement from HR regarding testing
As you are aware, the College implemented a COVID-19 testing policy for this semester with the requirement of monthly testing for vaccinated employees and weekly testing for unvaccinated employees. The testing program is an essential part of the College’s Healthy at Work Standards and thus failure to consistently participate in the applicable weekly or monthly regimen would constitute a workplace violation as previously shared. Through the first two months of this semester, some employees have not been participating as required in the testing program.
In the coming days, Human Resources will be working with various supervisors to notify employees who appear not to be participating, or participating consistently, in the testing program. While there is a progressive disciplinary process for violations of this requirement, the hope is this will not be needed as we move forward. The College’s Human Resources Department has contracted with Wild Health to provide easy on-campus access for required COVID-19 testing per the Healthy at Work policy. The schedule for testing, which allows self-scheduling during work hours to further ease the process, has been communicated at periodic intervals to campus by Human Resources and is again shared below. Your participation is a requirement for employment. Please immediately email healthyatwork@berea.edu with any test results that you may have not previously shared. If you are an affected employee who is contacted by your supervisor with concerns of not following the testing requirements and have concerns with reported data of testing compliance, please share with your supervisor and contact Human Resources Partner to discuss.
Information regarding testing is provided beneath my signature below.
An additional note from HR
The COVID-19 Temporary Adjusted Work Form has been utilized to provide temporary adjustments to benefit employees 106 times and counting since it was published! This form has been a great help to many affected by the challenges of COVID-19 and especially those with childcare challenges.
Kentucky and Madison County update
Madison County had a total of 232 new cases for the week ending yesterday. Disappointingly, this is an increase by almost 80 from last week and raises the average number of new cases per day to 3, which puts us back into the Red zone. Alas, we have had eleven more deaths in the county in the last week, which brings the total to 187.
Kentucky reported 9,602 new cases for the week ending today for an average of 1,141 cases/day, up by about 20% from last week’s number. The Commonwealth has reported 261 deaths over the last week for an average number of deaths/day of 37, which is up significantly from last week. The test positivity rate is also increasing and is now about 6%.
SOME ADVICE… With the advent of colder weather, it looks increasingly likely that we are seeing the beginning of a new seasonal surge in Kentucky, similar to what got underway already a couple of weeks ago in states to our north. Regrettably, precautions in everything we do are much more necessary again, particularly off campus where the vaccination rate is still below 50% in our county, and we are back in the red zone. Also, if you travel to any of the states to the north, again, be very careful, particularly if you are not vaccinated!
Vaccination policy at other colleges and universities
As of this morning, the Chronicle of Higher Education lists 1,131 schools that are requiring vaccination in the current term, an increase of just one school over last week.
Stay safe, get vaccinated, stay in touch,
Lyle Roelofs, President
Berea College