Good morning St. Cloud State,
This email is a follow up to the message you should have received yesterday from the MinnState System Chancellor, Devinder Malhotra. His message has been included on the COVID-19/Coronavirus information page.
This message will provide more details relating to our operations. It’s lengthy, but we have a lot of information to send in this first update!
Stay Connected – Look for Updates
Due to how the COVID-19 situation is rapidly evolving, we will be providing frequent updates when we have more information to share. These updates will come in the form of an email (our official communication channel), Star Alert, posts to Facebook and Twitter and the website.
Health and Safety
The health and safety of our community is our top priority. We continue to be in daily contact with Stearns County public health officials (our county) and Minnesota State Department of Health. Any action we undertake to change our operations will be in consultation with these experts and our MN State leadership.
We continue to encourage everyone to obtain information about the novel COVID-19 virus from reliable sources, including the above health departments and the CDC. You’ve likely heard that Stearns County has one presumptive case of COVID-19; however this person is not a student or employee of SCSU and has self-quarantined. There are a lot of rumors and misinformation being circulated on social media and Listservs, so please check the resources mentioned above for accurate information about COVID-19.
Students
Yes, it is true, classes will be suspended from March 16-22 and your face-to-face classes will resume in an alternative delivery format beginning Monday, March 23. Our goal is to make sure you continue to receive a high quality education and your professors are finalizing the method each class will be delivered. Expect to hear from your professors no later than Thursday, March 19 with instructions for how to access your course. Online courses also will not meet during the suspended time and will resume on March 23. For those of you in clinical, practicums or internships, your faculty will be in touch with you on how to proceed.
Our campus offices, student support services, residence halls and dining services will remain open regular business hours. You have the option of returning to your resident hall this next week. Our facilities and Resident Hall staff have worked to ensure that our residence halls have been cleaned per health and safety guidelines.
Finally, if you are student workers, we’d love to have you back on campus working. Please contact your supervisor to discuss your situation with him or her.
Faculty
If you have questions regarding benefits or pay, please contact your business partner or call the Human Resources office at 320-308-3203.
Staff
Campus operations will continue as usual. The campus, including offices, will continue to provide services for our constituents. If you have questions regarding your work duties, please contact the supervisor of your area. If you have questions regarding benefits or pay, please contact your business partner or call the Human Resources office at 320-308-3203.
All
Our COVID-19 webpage will have updated information about event cancellations as well as FAQs about resources and contact information.
We will continue to make decisions about our operations based on guidance from public health officials and Minnesota State leadership.
Remember, if you feel sick, stay at home or in your residence hall. Be hyper vigilant about washing your hands and not touching your face. The Minnesota Department of Health has asked that we practice social distancing if possible.
We will be back in touch!
Sincerely,
Robbyn R. Wacker
President
