Return to Campus Letter #16 Latest Back-to-Campus Updates
Return to Campus Letter #16
August 19, 2021
Dear Brooklyn College community,
This letter is #16 in series designed to inform you of our plans for a more in-person fall semester at Brooklyn College, as well as the importance of health and safety we place in that work. In this letter, I want to share with you the latest updates as of August 19, 2021.
1. First Week Back for Remote Staff
This week, we began a measured transition for staff members who had been working remotely for the last 18 months. These employees began to return to campus, most of them in rotational schedules, working one or two days a week onsite and the rest of the time from home. Protecting the health and safety of our employees is our central focus at this time. As we enter this transition phase, we have been following up on the issues we identified in our walkthrough visits with the union. We also established an Inquiry and Report Form to express concerns and ask questions. These reports have been helpful, and we have been responding and working to resolve the matters brought to our attention.
2. Vaccination or Testing Passes to Enter Campus
In order to enter the Brooklyn College campus, staff, students, and faculty must show a VaxPass or a CLEARED4 pass. If you are fully vaccinated, a VaxPass will permit you to enter the campus all semester. These instructions explain how to obtain a VaxPass. If you are not fully vaccinated, you must be tested for COVID-19 and obtain a CLEARED4 pass that will permit you to enter the campus for seven days. These instructions explain how to obtain a CLEARED4 pass. Until you are fully vaccinated, you must be tested for COVID-19 every week.
3. Mask Mandate Specifics
As more students, staff, and faculty transition to a more in-person semester, we have entered a new era in the importance of masking. We want to ensure that we adhere to the new mask mandate consistent with CDC guidance. Everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask indoors. Everyone, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask outdoors as well, unless they are fully vaccinated and able to maintain physical distance from others. The only exceptions to these rules are:
- A fully vaccinated person alone in an enclosed space may unmask;
- A fully vaccinated professor in a classroom who can maintain physical distance from others may unmask to teach; and
- A person, regardless of vaccination status, who can maintain physical distance from others may unmask briefly to eat or drink. (Where possible, we encourage folks to eat and drink outdoors.)
Anyone who is unvaccinated must remain masked both indoors and outdoors, except briefly while eating or drinking with physical distance from others.
4. Mask Mandate Enforcement
Some of you have asked how we will enforce the mask mandate. Collective commitment to the masking norm will help ensure we all follow this important safety rule. The campus will have plenty of signage reminding us of the rules. No one is perfect, however, and we may slip. When you see someone not following the rules, you may ask them politely to mask, and point to an applicable sign, if available. Most of us will be grateful for the gentle reminder. If anyone refuses to mask, however, you may use our Inquiry and Report Form or call security at 718.951.5511.
5. Office Appointments
For safety reasons, most offices on campus will not be available for walk-in appointments this semester. For example, although they are open, student services may have closed doors. Staff and faculty should place signs on their doors explaining how to obtain an appointment in their offices. We want to serve you! Just make an appointment, so that we can do so safely.
6. Federal Stimulus Plans
We have strong plans for the federal stimulus relief we have received. In this letter, I want to discuss three key areas of funding: student support, technology, and campus health and safety.
First, we are funding student support by expunging college debt. You may have heard that we are using federal funds to erase outstanding tuition and fee balances for thousands of Brooklyn College students who experienced financial hardship during the pandemic. We are proud to participate in this larger CUNY Comeback Program.
In addition to providing substantial student debt relief, we are also using federal funds to hire a slate of additional mental health counselors, as this support has become crucial in our students’ ability to remain in college. We also have hired connection coaches to enhance the advisement support we can offer students, given the academic challenges caused by the pandemic.
Second, we are funding improved technology across the campus. We have purchased Chromebooks and iPads for students who need them, and we are now installing Wi-Fi enhancements across campus to support heavier online usage. We are buying backup devices for IT closets to improve redundancy, new software for online modules in science laboratories, headphones and webcams for increased zoom usage, and new hardware and software for Hyflex classrooms. We are also buying some staff members new computer equipment so that they can work successfully both from home and onsite––and to ensure that their ability to support our students and faculty is seamless.
Third, we are using federal funds to make the campus safer. We are funding our COVID-19 testing site at SUBO, as well as the process for testing staff, students, and faculty. We are funding the Everbridge and CLEARED4 apps to create our campus entry passes. Given how COVID-19 is transmitted, we have used federal funds to focus on enhancing ventilation on campus. We funded an offsite expert to assess ventilation throughout the campus and we funded the infrastructural work in areas identified as needing improved ventilation. We have purchased MERV filter upgrades, UV-C filters for larger rooms, HEPA filters for smaller rooms, plexiglass dividers, and exhaust fans. We have bought touchless hand sanitizers, touchless paper towel dispensers, touchless faucets, touchless bottle filling stations, enhanced signage, and personal protective equipment, including face masks and gloves, to assemble welcome safety kits for each office. We are hiring temporary plumbers and electricians to help us install these items across campus. We have also hired public health ambassadors in our Environmental Health and Safety department to monitor health and safety matters onsite and to remind folks about our new processes and rules. Throughout the coming semester, we will continue to prioritize federal funding for student support, technology, the health and safety of our campus, and other COVID-19 related items.
Our Returning Safely Together webpage includes additional useful information, FAQs, the Inquiry and Report Form, and videos from prior open forums.
We do not know how the pandemic will evolve, so we must be nimble and flexible as conditions change. SVP Alan Gilbert and I will continue to update you as we move forward.
Thank you for your patience and goodwill.
Yours sincerely,
Michelle J. Anderson
President, Brooklyn College
