COVID-19 Policies and Communications

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Tuesday, May 17, 2022.  The main purpose for sharing this update is some policy adjustments that the AC would like you to be aware of.

Quarantine update

At this point we have just one student in quarantine (off campus), and another student who planned to return to campus, but tested positive and so is quarantining at home.  We also have four current employee quarantines, three of them of on-campus employees and the fourth, a PFE employee who does not work on campus.  The work locations of the three on-campus employees who are quarantined are: the CDL, Edwards Hall, and Seabury Center.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: May 17, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, May 2, 2022.

Quarantine update

A notice was sent regarding a campus outbreak last week.  There have been 14 student cases associated with that outbreak.  Four have already completed quarantine and ten remain, nine housed on campus and one at home.

As to on-campus employees, there were a number of close contacts identified as a result of the student outbreak, and all have been urged to test.  So far one of those tests has come back negative (a Student Life employee), and we have another unrelated case as well, that individual works in Edwards Hall, but had not been on campus in the days prior to the positive test.  I also regret to inform you that both of the occupants of the President’s house are quarantining due to positive tests, mine last Wednesday while on travel for Berea, and the First Lady then on Saturday morning.  I am happy to say that although neither of us are particularly enjoying our quarantine, we are both doing well and hope to return to action fairly soon.  Anyway, that makes a total of four employee cases at the moment.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: May 2, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, April 25, 2022.  At this point I am no longer sending updates on a weekly basis unless there is important information to share.  There is some important information this week regarding financial aid and we now have a few more cases in the campus community that I need to make you aware of.

GREAT NEWS for students from the Student Financial Aid Office

There will be funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP or HEERF III) released early next week for remaining spring term or summer expenses.  While the funds will be released to you as in the past, they should be used for your remaining spring term expenses (student account) or upcoming summer expenses.  As stated in the ARP legislation, students are to use these funds for Cost of Attendance items, such as housing, meals, books and supplies, child care, etc.  These are grant funds and do not have to be repaid, nor do students have to provide receipts of expenditures.  All students are eligible for these funds, including international and DACA students.  Uses for things other than the stated purpose could be considered fraudulent use of federal funds.

May and Summer graduates will be receiving $650 from these funds in a couple of weeks.  This, too, will be the last disbursement of this type.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: April 25, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, March 28, 2022.  At this point I am no longer sending updates on a weekly basis unless there is important information to share.  There is some important information this week regarding financial aid.  Hence this streamlined update.

GREAT NEWS for students from the Student Financial Aid Office

There will be funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP or HEERF III) released early next week for spring term expenses.  While the funds will be released to you as in the past, they should be used for your spring term expenses (student account).  If that is paid in full, then the funds can be used for summer start-up expenses.  As stated in the ARP legislation, students are to use these funds for Cost of Attendance items, such as housing, meals, books and supplies, child care, etc. These are grant funds and do not have to be repaid, nor do students have to provide receipts of expenditures.

All students are eligible for these funds, including international and DACA students.

The chart below outlines the amounts each student will receive based on need as determined by 2021-22 Expected Family Contribution (EFC):

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: March 28, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, March 21, 2022.

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

Overall cases are declining in our county and in our state this week, and the campus numbers are quite good, too.  As of today, we have three students in isolation, one quarantining on campus and the other two off campus.

As to on-campus employees, there are no positive cases or close contacts.  (A week ago there were three active on-campus employee cases.)

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: March 21, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, 3.14, 2022.  (Happy Pi Day, everyone.)  Welcome back from Spring Break, if you traveled.  Remember to monitor for symptoms and get tested right away if you experience any.  On COVID-19 Day 730 we passed the two year point from when we announced the campus would be closing for in-person instruction on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: March 14, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, February 28, 2022.  By next week this time, Spring Break will have commenced, so there will likely not be a campus update on Monday, the 7^th.  Enjoy the break but stay careful; you don’t want to be the one who brings the virus back to campus with you.

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

Overall cases are declining in our county and in our state this week, and the student numbers improved, too.  The six students in isolation last week have all completed their quarantines without complications.  We have two new student cases, one quarantining on campus and one at home.

As to on-campus employees, we are about level.  There are four on-campus employee positive cases in isolation right now and no close contacts.  (Last week it was two and two respectively.)

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: February 28, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, February 21, 2022.  Happy Presidents’ Day everyone.  (Note that I prefer Presidents’ to President’s.)

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

Overall cases are declining among employees, in our county and in our state, this week, but the student numbers bounced up a bit.  As of today, we have six students in isolation, four on campus and two at home.  On the plus side, the three students in quarantine last week have all returned to active duty.

As to on-campus employees, we are doing much better than last week.  There are only two on-campus employee positive cases in isolation right now and two close contacts.  (Last week it was nine and two respectively.)

There are another three positive cases amongst employees who work off-site, mostly with Partners for Education.

The work locations of the two employee isolation cases are Lincoln Hall and Rogers-Traylor.  The close contacts are in Goldthwait and the CDL.  Please note that not all employee cases are getting reported to HR, and that is our only way of tracking our cases so that the situation can be reported each week to the community.  I do strongly urge everyone to report positive test outcomes to HR.  That information will be handled with full confidentiality; only the building assignment information is released to the community.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: February 21, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, February 14, 2022.  Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

The news around student quarantines continues to be quite favorable.  We have three students presently in quarantine, one on campus and two off campus.  One quarantine will complete today and the other two on Wednesday.

As to on-campus employees, we have experienced an increase over last week, but we are still doing quite well.  There are a total of nine positive cases in isolation and two close contacts.  (Last week it was four and two respectively.)

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: February 14, 2022 →

Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, February 7, 2022.

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

The news around student quarantines continues to improve.  The five students from last week have completed their quarantine, and we have only one new case among on-campus students.

As to on-campus employees, including those working remotely at present, we have achieved excellent improvement there, as well.  There are a total of four positive cases in isolation and two close contacts.  (Last week it was 15 and three respectively.)

There are another four positive cases amongst employees who work off-site, mostly with Partners for Education (down one from last week).  I reported last week that one of the off-site PFE employees had needed to be hospitalized, and I am happy to report this week that that individual has been released from the hospital and is recovering.

Continue reading COVID-19 Update: February 7, 2022 →