To our students,

As you know, the University’s two major priorities for the upcoming fall term are the health of our MTSU community and our commitment to offering classes on campus. 

As students began returning to campus a few days ago, we have been carefully monitoring active COVID-19 cases that will require the student to isolate for 10 days. In turn, we then monitor students with a verified exposure to an active case, which will require quarantine of 14 days. Quarantine allows time to determine if exposure has led to contraction of the disease. 

Quick action on this relatively small number of students and the subsequent quarantine of their close contacts, as well as the other COVID risk mitigations strategies that MTSU has already implemented, are all necessary to prevent a surge in cases. 

We have observed that not all students are complying with both the letter and the spirit of our social distancing guidelines. Although we have stated that masks are required whenever indoors, we have also stated that when outdoors, you should remove your mask ONLY if you can maintain a social distance of six feet. Unfortunately, a small number of our students and other community members are not carefully adhering to these standards. We feel this behavior adds to the risk of new cases and is the likely source of some of our initial COVID-19 cases.

As a result, I am imposing a two-week moratorium on all non-academically related campus events and activities. Effective Saturday (Aug. 22), we will not permit student extracurricular activities, student organization meetings or events, or other in-person gatherings on campus, unless they are a part of a supervised classroom or supervised curricular or athletic activity.

Space reservations by student organizations during this two-week moratorium will be cancelled. University-sponsored extracurricular activities, including Connection Point events, are also cancelled during this period or will move to a virtual or remote activity. However, activities organized and supervised as part of the academic curriculum or directly supervised by university staff will be permitted (such as band, ensembles, athletics and rehearsals for theatrical performances).

This moratorium will be in effect through Tuesday, Sept. 8. During that time, our medical staff and senior executive team will monitor infection rates and other indicators of virus spread on the campus. By Friday, Sept. 4, we will notify the campus if the moratorium will be extended or lifted, or if additional restrictions will be required.

Our ability to engage in academically related experiences, both in and out of the classroom, are far more important than other campus functions. As a part of that prioritization, for instance, several weeks ago we agreed that non-student visitors would not be permitted in residence halls without special permission, and that events not sponsored by the University would not be permitted on the campus.

Let me be clear: With health and safety as our highest priority, if I must, I will not hesitate to move all classes to online learning if our medical staff and public health officials agree that we are not able to safely contain the spread of the virus. 

We have made many careful and difficult decisions to best prepare for Monday’s start of classes. However, all of this hard work and preparation will be for naught if we do not have full cooperation of all students, faculty, and staff. 

I encourage you to very carefully consider your personal decisions regarding involvement in activities, contacts with friends and family, visits to high-risk venues, and your travel plans. Please do not engage in any activity that could pose a risk to your own health, the health of others, or that could require an extended period of quarantine.

Please remember to check our website, mtsu.edu/coronavirus, for news, information, and updates on our ongoing response to the pandemic.

Sincerely,

Sidney A. McPhee

President

Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu

Dear MTSU Campus Community,

We continue to closely monitor the ongoing transmission of the coronavirus throughout the state, communicating closely with the Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee Higher Education Commission as we move forward with our plans for the fall semester. The increases in COVID cases seen through July were disconcerting to us all.  

However, we are so pleased to be able to report that implementation of the recent masking mandate for Rutherford County and in some other areas seems to have begun to turn the tide of COVID-19 illness in our community and state. We have a long way to go to reach levels that we would consider optimal, but the most recent trend points toward cautious optimism.

Transmission rate is the number of people, on average, that one infected person will subsequently infect. If it is less than 1, each sick person infects fewer than one person, on average, so the number of infected individuals will shrink over time. If it is greater than 1, each sick person is infecting more than one person, on average, so the outbreak will grow. Unfortunately, it has hovered at high level statewide throughout the summer. The good news is that the transmission rate for our state has finally dropped below 1 to 0.96. It is likely that our behaviors, such as mandates to wear masks and advice that we practice social distancing, contributed to this decline.

We also continue to monitor the number of cases per 100,000 people, as well as test positivity rates. In Rutherford County, which has been particularly hard-hit by COVID this summer, moving averages for new cases have dropped from 129 per day to 73 8/9 per day since July 18 and the transmission rate has dropped below the state rate and is currently at 0.82. We will continue to carefully monitor all of these important markers as we complete our careful planning for restricted opening of the campus for the fall term.  

Crucial to our success in the upcoming semester will be the compliance of all students, faculty and staff with social distancing and masking requirements. All indicators continue to point toward the efficacy of maintaining six feet of distance in limiting the risk for COVID person to person spread. Similarly, the correct wearing of a mask, so that it covers both the nose and mouth, is a critical component in limiting the spread of the virus.

Our Student Health Services this week is sending a MT STRONG-branded mask to the mailing address of our enrolled students; we are also distributing them to each faculty and staff member. Also, we have partnered with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., to assemble and distribute safety packets – a mask, hand sanitizer and information – to our on-campus residents. And students in our College of Media and Entertainment have prepared a social media and outreach campaign to encourage their peers to wear masks and follow safety protocols.

Together, we need to protect our vulnerable — and work together to mitigate the spread of this illness — to stay on course for in-person instruction for the semester. Safety is preeminent, but we also need to realize the importance of education for our students and employment for our employees. If the balance tips against safety, we, in conjunction with state leaders, may have no choice but to adjust Fall campus plans to further protect our campus community.

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