Ted Cieslak, MD, interim executive director of the UNMC Office of Health Security, sent this message to the UNMC community on Friday, March 19.
As we begin to emerge from the year-long COVID-19 pandemic, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the professionalism, diligence, grace, and care with which you approached the hardships inherent in responding to this crisis. Your attention to the fundamentals of disease control, your willingness to consider the safety of those around you, and your overall positive attitude have all combined to keep COVID-related morbidity to a minimum on our five campuses.
Moreover, well in excess of 80% of our academic health center has now been fully immunized against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, allowing us to take advantage of localized herd immunity. We encourage our remaining students, staff and faculty to avail themselves of the opportunity to be immunized as soon as it arises.
In response to these positive developments, university leaders, in close coordination with health experts and authorities, are making plans for the safe and gradual re-opening of our campuses. Toward that end, we ask all of you to plan for the following (keeping in mind that the situation is subject to change based on pandemic-related events and the advice of federal and local health authorities):
1. We anticipate that we will soon be able to permit some mask-less gatherings of students, faculty and staff. This decision ultimately will be scientifically based, data-driven, and dependent on conditions on our campuses and in our communities. At present, we know that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting sick, but scientists are still attempting to determine to what extent these vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to others. For this reason, and in recognition of recent CDC guidance and ongoing local mask mandates, we need to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work under real-world conditions. Thus, for now, existing guidance pertaining to face-coverings, social distancing, and other COVID control measures remains in effect. Therefore, receipt of a complete series of COVID vaccine (one or two doses, depending on the product) does not currently absolve individuals from the obligation to adhere to these safety measures.
2. Classes usually taught in-person but currently being held remotely are anticipated to return to the in-person mode, with certain restrictions, as soon as feasible and practical for each individual program. Owing to an ongoing desire to keep our campuses somewhat “de-densified,” faculty in charge of classes that have been operating smoothly in a remote-only capacity are encouraged to continue in a remote-only mode at least until the beginning of the summer 2021 semester. Those who feel that their students would benefit from a return to in-person learning prior to the summer 2021 semester should work with your college’s appropriate administrative contact to ensure that an appropriate space is available and properly prepared. Faculty and students are cautioned against reconfiguring classroom spaces on their own.
3. Guidance relevant to the return of personnel to on-campus work will be forthcoming. For areas that may be interested in continuing remote work arrangements, there is currently information available on the COVID-19 website.
4. Programs providing research opportunities and mentoring for individual undergraduate and high school students may resume doing so immediately. Undergraduate and high school students involved in university-sanctioned programs, such as INBRE, SURP and STEP-UP, may begin working one-on-one with faculty and graduate student mentors, with ongoing required face covering, hand hygiene and social distancing.
5. For business travel within the U.S., travel will need to be approved in advance by the responsible dean or director. Such travel should be carefully considered and should be limited to that which is essential.
6. International travel is discouraged, but is permitted only if: a) it is mission-critical; b) it has the approval of the relevant Vice Chancellor or Senior Vice Chancellor and; c) it is consistent with federal travel restrictions. International travel is subject to Executive Memorandum 25. Personal international travel continues to be discouraged.
7. Study abroad programs remain prohibited.
8. Beginning Monday, March 15, all students, faculty, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine employees on campus must park in their designated/assigned parking lots. Employees returning to work on campus, who have been working off site, will be eligible for reinstatement to their previous parking assignment, subject to availability. Such reinstatement must be applied for within 30 days after a return to campus or the space may be forfeited.
9. The capacity limits of on-campus gatherings of our own faculty, staff and students are increased to 25 individuals, effective immediately. Exceptions to this limit can be sought by filing an event safety plan. Participants in such gatherings should continue to wear face coverings and social distance. University-sponsored events involving a mixture of UNMC personnel and invited guests are subject to an analogous limit (aside from official events).
10. On-campus gatherings involving outside groups (example: weddings) aside from official events (see below) remain prohibited at this time. A waiver request may be filed with an accompanying event safety plan.
11. We are planning in-person Commencement ceremonies at the end of the spring semester, with online back-up plans being made as a contingency. College leaders should likewise plan for other large, in-person ceremonies (with online contingency backup) for any official events (e.g. convocations, commencements, “white-coat” ceremonies).
12. Requests from faculty and staff for accommodations related to COVID-19 will be handled through the University’s existing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations process. Please contact the UNMC HR Employee Relations office if you have a COVID-19 workplace accommodation question or request. More information about this process can be found at the UNMC ADA Request for Accommodations webpage. Enrolled students with disabilities that qualify for accommodation under Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) can find additional information regarding Services for Students with Disabilities online. Please contact Kelly Swoboda in Services for Students with Disabilities by email with questions.
Thank you for all you have done to get our university community through this pandemic safely. Because of you, we have been able to continue our educational, research, and patient care missions without jeopardizing safety or educational attainment. We look forward to sharing an even more robust experience as we move forward this spring.
How do Commencement and other larger-scale events involving not just the UNMC community fit in with CDC guidance that even fully-vaccinated individuals should avoid medium to large events, even with masks and social distancing?