Dee Dee Campbell, Interim Provost & CAO Fall Expectations for COVID-19 safety in the classroom | New Mexico State University - BE BOLD. Shape the Future.
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Fall Expectations for COVID-19 safety in the classroom

August 12, 2022 

TO:               All Faculty 

FROM:           Dorothy “Dee Dee” Campbell Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer 

RE:               Fall expectations for COVID-19 safety in the classroom 

Dear faculty colleagues, 

As we near the start of the fall semester next week, I want to thank each of you for your service to our students, and to encourage you to approach your teaching, research, and outreach work in ways that help create a familiar and traditional learning environment for our students. 

While we maintain a lot of flexibility in how our offices around campus can operate, those offices that directly serve our students are expected to return to working more typical in-person hours on campus, as appropriate. Many of our students are looking forward to a traditional college experience, including attending classes and co-curricular activities, meeting with faculty during traditional office hours, and experiencing in-person scholarly engagement when pedagogically appropriate. 

In the classroom and across our campuses and sites, we’ll continue to follow CDC guidance, the New Mexico Public Health Order, and our own NMSU Now Pandemic Action Plan to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 or other communicable diseases. While masks are not currently required by this guidance, mask-wearing is certainly encouraged and welcomed, and as faculty, you should help set the tone in your classrooms that masks are welcome. 

All employees and students should be vaccinated by now, unless they have been approved for an exemption, and this offers significant protection for our campus population. Students should be encouraged to monitor themselves for symptoms of contagious illness and to stay home when they are feeling ill. Free COVID-19 tests are available at Corbett Center’s Crimson Concierge desk and many other locations so that students can test as frequently as needed. 

If you or a student does test positive for COVID-19, it’s important to immediately report that through our self-report portal on the NMSU Now site. For information on when to return to work or class, see our helpful “When Can I Come Back?” resource. For questions or concerns relating to our COVID-19 response, please email covid19@nmsu.edu

As we begin the semester, it’s important to note that students may yet feel uncertain and need some additional patience and understanding from instructors as they begin their academic journeys or return to finish what they started – whether that’s in person, online, or in a hybrid format. 

Please feel free to contact my office at provost@nmsu.edu if you have questions or need additional support in planning for the academic year ahead.

Thank you, sincerely, for all you do for our students. 

 

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