I hope you all know how seriously we take our partnership with both students and their parents/families.  The reason we spend so much time reading and responding to Facebook posts and individual emails is because we value your input—and we know that the more information we have, the better our decisions are.  And no decisions are more important to us than those designed to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff.

With that in mind, let me share a couple of updates to our fall housing plans that will reflect the input we have heard.

First, let me be clear:  we are committed to following the current CDC and American College Health Association guidelines related to reducing the density of students living in housing.  We still believe that, for the coming year, having students occupying private bedrooms will help us better manage the presence of the coronavirus on our campus—and managing the virus is essential to our ability to keep the campus open for classes in our classroom buildings and labs.

Secondly, we remain committed to our belief that new students leaving home for the first time are the students who tend most to need the additional structure and staffing of on-campus living, so those students will be our first priority for the limited number of single/private rooms available.  We believe we can house all freshmen who had already received a housing assignment, and we will be moving forward with these freshmen as the first to receive new single/private room assignments, if they choose to select to live on campus in a single room for the fall.  Remember that a reactivation request for incoming freshmen will open in the MT Housing Portal on Monday, June 15.  Students must submit a reactivation request and signed addendum if they wish to be placed in single/private accommodation for 2020-2021

However, we have clearly heard that the additional charges related to private rooms are more than many students and families can afford.  To eliminate this barrier, students who submit a reactivation request through the MT Housing Portal to be reassigned to a single room will be charged the regular shared room rate.  There will be no additional charge added for the single room.

Related to that issue, we are also clearly hearing the concern from upper-class students who initially DID select a private room in one of the residence halls (not including Womack Lane or Scarlett Commons apartments.) In response to your feedback, we will allow these upper-class students to be prioritized to maintain their current private room reservations.  More information about how these students will enter the portal and sign the reactivation agreement for fall will be provided in the coming days, but these students will be assured a space on campus if they notify us of that desire by the required date.

Finally, we are aware of 15 students currently assigned to the residence halls who have filed intent to graduate forms for a December 2020 graduation.  Given the difficulty in finding a short term off campus lease, we will prioritize these 15 graduating seniors for assignment if they indicate that they wish to continue to live on campus for fall 2020 in a single room.   More information about the process for these students will be provided in the coming days, but these students will be assured a space on campus if they notify us of that desire by the required date.

I hope you know how much we value your input, and that we carefully consider all of your feedback, even though our primary commitment to student health doesn’t allow us to completely reverse the decisions made to move to private/single rooms for all on campus students.  We do expect to receive some number of housing cancellations as students continue to assess their housing choices for fall.  As previously discussed, we will be prioritizing out-of-state students to receive assignments from those cancellations as they are received.  We will do our very best to notify students of assignments just as quickly as we are able.

We understand that the decision to move to private/single rooms presents a considerable challenge to the students and families that are impacted, and we appreciate your input that has allowed us to fine-tune the plan.   

- Vice President Deb Sells (Debra.Sells@mtsu.edu)

To our University employees:

As has been conveyed in my previous campus communications, and in our recently released Charting our Course for a Safe Return to Campus document, we will be utilizing a three-phase return to work plan for our employees.  Our plan calls for the implementation of a phased approach that will allow us to safely begin to resume operations, while providing the opportunity to evaluate our mitigation plans for the COVID-19 virus before our students arrive in August.  Next week, on Tuesday, June 16, we will begin Phase 1 of our reopening in preparation for the Fall 2020 semester; bringing a small group of employees back to campus.  Approximately three weeks after that, we will move to Phase 2, with about 50% of our employees returning to their campus assignments.  And, in early August we will enter our final phase, where the majority of our employees will be back on campus. In the virtual Town Hall meeting held for employees on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, it was emphasized that division and unit heads and supervisors will be responsible for contacting employees in each phase regarding their return to work. 

If you have not already heard from your supervisor, in the next few days, you will be contacted soon regarding your specific return date.  You will also be provided with information on the measures we will be taking in our operations to protect the health and welfare of our campus community, as well as the expectations we have for all employees. Because the spread of COVID-19 is primarily person-to-person, the University community must fully engage in proactive measures. The University will provide appropriate PPE supplies to employees, including face masks, specific to their needs and work situations.

Employees are responsible for completing the following items prior to returning to campus:

• Click here to review the Charting our Course for a Safe Return to Campus plan.
• Click here to read the COVID-19 Policy.
• After completion of the above items, log into PipelineMT and review and accept the Return to Work Agreement.  This agreement requires each employee, prior to reporting to work each day, to complete a self-assessment to ensure they are helping to protect the University community from the spread of COVID-19.  This option will be available on PipelineMT beginning tomorrow, June 11.

The University has also worked with our training software vendor, Safe Colleges, to provide employees with training modules related to the pandemic.  It is strongly recommended that employees take this training to expand their knowledge about safeguards that can be taken to protect themselves.  Employees will receive an email directly from Safe Colleges this evening.

Again, if you have questions or concerns, speak directly with your supervisors. It is important that you understand the expectations put forth by the University before you return to work.

Meanwhile, please stay safe and thank you for all you do for our institution.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu