Dear Campus Community,

For the second week in a row, we have no recorded active COVID cases on campus.  Hooray! This could be the start of something great, but we still recommend vigilance to keep our campus safe.

We’re nearing the end of the verification incentive process, so if you haven’t done it yet, please do. You can click the link below or stop by the appropriate office with a physical copy of the card. That office can also help you if you’ve lost your vaccine card.

Students can click here to upload their vaccination cards or stop by the Health Center.

Faculty and Staff can click here, or stop by Human Resources.

For both processes the deadline is this coming Monday, November 1.

Once we have that data, the campus will be evaluating our mask policy for the rest of the semester. Having a high percent of the campus verified as vaccinated will allow us to consider more options moving forward.

Adair County has several opportunities for both the COVID and flu vaccine, this week and next. See this link for more details and how to sign up.

https://adair.lphamo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Upcoming-Vaccine-Opps-10-26-21-WEB.docx.pdf

We also expect more opportunities at Truman before the end of the semester, and you can still visit local pharmacies, some of which have incentives for getting vaccinated there.

==

Although we aim these updates at our faculty and the campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

……………………………………………………………

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases	Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Fall 2021	Total
Aug 24	6	2	0	525
Aug 31	21	0	8	533
Sep 7	13	1	23	548
Sep 14	9	0	33	558
Sep 21	3	0	42	567
Sep 28	1	0	46	571
Oct 5	5	0	46	571
Oct 12	3	0	51	576
Oct 19	0	0	54	579
Oct 26	0	0	54	579

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

All COVID-19 Campus Communications

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

Dear Campus Community,

We have no active cases of COVID recorded on campus this week. While this is wonderful and a cause for celebration, please remember that many asymptomatic COVID cases aren’t recorded. We’d really like to see several weeks of zero cases before we really start to think that we’ve moved to a new place.

Our five minute video summarizes our thoughts about the zero cases count, the ongoing vaccine verification project, and homecoming this week:

https://zoom.us/rec/play/erT_Awou83TANWJcINvSsIlHCyQnk_2cX-LZRC01Y2jpCUwuBFk-p0QdUHFsQxSbvkvx4EeTOOnU6y5r.b6eWBNYiaKbN1OcU

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Total
Aug 24	6	2	525
Aug 31	21	0	533
Sep 7	13	1	548
Sep 14	9	0	558
Sep 21	3	0	567
Sep 28	1	0	571
Oct 5	5	0	571
Oct 12	3	0	576
Oct 19	0	0	579

Our next video will be in two weeks, as we see how we did with the campus-wide verification project.

==

Although we aim these updates at our faculty and the campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

Dear Campus Community,

We have 3 active COVID-19 cases this week, which shows that we still aren’t seeing much “bloom,” a sign that we are fairly well-vaccinated on campus.

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Total
Aug 24	6	2	525
Aug 31	21	0	533
Sep 7	13	1	548
Sep 14	9	0	558
Sep 21	3	0	567
Sep 28	1	0	571
Oct 5	5	0	571
Oct 12	3	0	576

We do worry about all the likely travel for Fall Break, so please do encourage people to make smart choices, for instance, avoiding extended periods with large groups in small, poorly-ventilated indoor spaces.

The Flu vaccine is now widely available around town, and many sites will allow you to get the flu vaccine at the same time as a COVID shot/booster. University instructors do qualify for booster shots, and if it’s been more than six months since you received got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, you might consider getting one. Guidance for other vaccine boosters, mixing vaccines, as well as vaccine approval for children 5-11 is expected in the next few weeks.

The University verification incentives continue for student organizations and for faculty/staff.

Due to the pending break, we didn’t make a video this week, but we’ll be back next week; hopefully with more low case numbers.

==

Although we aim these updates at our faculty and the campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

Dear Campus Community,

We have 5 active COVID-19 cases right now (4 new ones), which is more than last week, but we are seeing less “bloom,” which gives us hope that our downward trend may continue. We are seeing that vaccinated “breakthrough” cases really are less mild, last less long, and are spreading less, so COVID vaccines continue to be doing well. We seem to be near the end of the two-month cycle, although it’s too early to know when another wave might start.

This five-minute video summarizes are numbers and what we’re seeing:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/ZjBmKrIwCkzTEHp9YiBwKDTkG5FOphQdWra3E7nly4x4BicA0qi6eJ3WZF6lb_2b.tJ1jpPT_buzto-6d

There is a drive-through vaccine clinic today at the NEMO fairgrounds from 10 AM to 6 PM, for both the COVID and the flu vaccines. You can learn more and find the registration form here.

https://adair.lphamo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Flu-and-Covid-Vaccines-10-5-21-WEB.docx.pdf

Truman HR will be hosting a flu clinic next week for faculty and staff, the county continues to offer the flu vaccine at the County Health Department Offices, and it’s also available at most local pharmacies.

We do recommend that you consider getting the flu vaccine this year, since this layered protection helps keep you and us healthy. We also recommend that you think about your fall break plans before next week, and make safe and healthy choices whenever you can.

Remember that the vaccine verification incentive continues, so please do keep uploading your vaccination status to Student Health or Human Resources.

==

Note: We are taking next week off from making a video, and we are planning to move to bi-weekly videos after that, as circumstances allow.

Although we aim these updates at our faculty and the campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

Dear Truman Community,

We are happy to report that as of Tuesday, September 28^th, we only have ONE active COVID case on our campus.

While we know that our counting is hardly perfect, but it’s no less perfect than it’s been in past weeks, so we have reason to think that our campus is doing very well right now.

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Total
Aug 24	6	2	525
Aug 31	21	0	533
Sep 7	13	1	548
Sep 14	9	0	558
Sep 21	3	0	567
Sep 28	1	0	571

Our video is short this week (2.5 minutes).

https://zoom.us/rec/share/BkH1S0Og_CXgFuWO_Kqh6en90AbrTU5GQjytRfGiR120LyL-ci7TnEKFN8HHpaZt.Dhna6EOE7H0TcEky

The county numbers are also declining, although still officially an area of “high transmission,” quite a bit higher than our campus numbers. These declines could be part of the well-documented but poorly explained “two-month cycle” that we’ve seen in COVID cases, in which case, we should remain vigilant against starting a new cycle, but this is good news indeed. We hope these trends continue.

We continue to encourage members of the campus community to submit verification of their vaccination status through the formal process, including the incentives for student organizations and others.

Flu shots are starting to become available, and we still encourage you to get a flu shot when the opportunity arises.

==

Although we aim these updates at our faculty and the campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page, sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

---

Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

 

Dear Truman Community,

Our video is longer this week (12 minutes), but we go into some detail about the survey we did and the verification effort put on by the President’s office, HR, and Student Health:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/V0ZbtzyZXW5vZuETThMdZZ13BovM8FAtJYRYharaDaBRAzvnfaLWuryUmcMFAqHB.OKO9-WZW-EWn8tNY?startTime=1632261122000

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Total
Aug 24	6	2	525
Aug 31	21	0	533
Sep 7	13	1	548
Sep 14	9	0	558
Sep 21	3	0	567

is pretty great. The county has also seen some decline in cases, so we hope that continues.

We were joined by CASE Senior Student Consultant, Madison Ingerman-Fitzgerald, who explained the results of the campus survey that concluded last week. Of those who reported, over 90% reported being vaccinated, but we do worry about predicting vax rates for those who didn’t respond. You can read the preliminary report here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GJKizLwE4d0PMjD_8nfRvTKkBiRiNYqQ1yF3VtpkSS4/edit?usp=sharing

We discussed the continuation of the mask mandate on campus, which didn’t surprise any of us.

Remember that masks go over your mouth AND nose.

We also talked about the verification survey done by the President’ office, HR, and Student Health and the new incentives announced this week for student groups and for faculty/staff. They’d like to have full campus participation by November 5^th, so that the next mask decision can be well informed by verified information.

We concluded by discussing the weather change. With more indoors activities, we remind you to be thoughtful of the choices you’re making. Please avoid spending extended periods of time in poorly ventilated spaces with unmasked, unvaccinated people. If you can’t do all of the things, try to do as many as you can.

Finally, flu shots are coming soon. Please consider getting a flu shot as soon as you are able. Flu is different from COVID, but severe cases of both are horrible.

==

Although we aim these updates at our campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page and sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

 

After considering a variety of factors, including recent campus surveys, the number of active cases in Adair County, the advice of public health professionals and CDC guidance, Truman will continue the current mask policy and will review and reevaluate the policy by November 5.

Masks are required inside all campus buildings, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.  The only exceptions are for dining and when in a personal residence hall room or office.

Extension of the mask policy is done in consideration of the community as a whole.  Cases in Adair County continue to be substantial and are predicted to remain so over the next four weeks.  As such, based on information from the CDC, the community transmission risk remains “high.”  Everyone in the county is advised to wear a mask in public, indoor settings, according to the CDC and the Adair County Health Department.

While recent surveys of all students and employees suggest a large portion of the campus community is vaccinated, a significant segment is not.  The faculty/staff response rate was 66% and of those who responded the vaccination rate was 97%.  For students, the response rate was 53% and for those who responded the vaccination rate was 93%.  This makes the known vaccination rate for faculty/staff 65% and students 50%. While these numbers are promising, we need more people to complete the survey and get vaccinated.

Getting vaccinated is the most effective way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the Truman and Kirksville communities.  Everyone who can get the vaccine is encouraged to do so.

Details regarding incentive programs to enhance survey response and vaccination rates for student clubs/organizations, athletic teams and residence halls, and for employees will be announced on Monday in the Truman Today.  The last date for the incentives to be earned is November 1.  Therefore, the mask mandate will be reviewed November 5 to ensure that the full benefit of the incentive programs can be considered. The vaccine is readily available at local pharmacies, and the University will conduct an additional on-campus clinic that will meet the date requirements of the soon-to-be-announced incentive programs.  A new link for the survey will be provided for those who have not yet participated.

Office of the President
200 McClain Hall
100 E. Normal Avenue
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4100
www.truman.edu

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Related Links:

• Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website
• Mask Policy Updates
• All Communications

 

 

Dear Truman Community,

This four-minute video summarizes this week’s COVID numbers with some context.

https://zoom.us/rec/share/pg7QfKY36-MQtAEzbp9O4xxxEt2K8GuEXaOlLmJAhNNhf3_B5qkg4PdYjMLJUbf2.mIXOZWQJKGTsChPe

Our campus numbers have dropped again, which is good news.

	Active Cases in Isolation		Recovered Cases
Week	Student	Fac/Staff	Total
Aug 24	6	2	525
Aug 31	21	0	533
Sep 7	13	1	548
Sep 14	9	0	558

We are seeing an upswing in people who aren’t sick with COVID, but with other “crud” – it’s allergy season, the air quality is worse than usual due in part to the smoke from out west, and it’s just the time of year when people get colds and sniffles. Although our campus attendance policy is back in force this semester, it’s probably good for faculty to continue to be flexible when they can, since having sick students in our class isn’t a great idea, whether it’s COVID, the flu, or something less sinister.

If you have any symptoms, we do encourage you to get tested. We still have multiple testing options at multiple locations in the community.

We also want to remind everyone to not get lazy despite these improved numbers. This is a lower-energy part of the semester, with the excitement from a new semester dying down and Fall Break still a month away. Please continue to wear your masks properly when in campus buildings.

Thanks to everyone who completed our campus COVID survey. We should have some initial results to report next week, and should also know more from the HR/Student Health verification program where people were asked to update their vaccine cards.

By the weekend, we’ll also hear about the scheduled reconsideration of our campus mask policy. Our friends at Mizzou decided to keep their mask policy for another month, although their situation is different than ours.

Although we aim these updates at our campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page and sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Truman Community,

Here’s a six-minute video discussing this week’s numbers and context about COVID on our Truman campus:

https://zoom.us/rec/play/-3cD-3bpL-x5NQaJuqE0XzSAX_1W1E-IgZMp1cF8M47gEH2oSbCe5FrdYt8KKdZoXjwymXTIX6URWddo.58uOVU9OD-YG14Mg

We were down to 14 active cases this week, a good sign, but with so many activities starting this week, we still worry about numbers moving back up in the next week or two.

There will be a panel discussion this week, specifically aimed at answering questions for those who are hesitant to get the vaccine. Please do encourage anyone you know who is considering the vaccine to join us. It will be live in VH 1300 and VH 1412, and also available online. Link to join Webinar: https://zoom.us/j/98193193410

More information is here: http://newsletter.truman.edu/article.asp?id=28581

President Thomas sent out a reminder of two COVID surveys that are important to our campus. The first one asked for you to answer two questions, and if you were vaccinated, to upload a picture of your vaccine card (or stop by the relevant office to show your card). That link was included in the reminder sent from the president’s office yesterday (since faculty, staff, and students have different links, we won’t include it here), but please do complete that as soon as you can.

We were joined by Truman student Madison Fitzgerald-Ingerman, who is working on our surveys that was sent out this week.  We have over 1,000 responses, but we’re looking for even more. A good sample will increase our confidence in giving advice about what should happen with the mask mandate in the coming weeks and months.

You can click here to complete our eight-question survey for faculty, staff and students.

https://survey.truman.edu/surveys/2b528d2a-5103-46a7-a5ba-27c17dda33b3. 

Vaccines remain available at HyVee, Walgreens and other local pharmacies.

COVID tests continue to be available on campus for students and at many local pharmacies and health providers in the community.

Although we aim these updates at our campus community, please do share this information or the video with students in your classes, with parents, and elsewhere. This information is shared with all students via their COVID Blackboard page and sent directly to all Truman faculty and staff, and shared on our public web page here:

https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/

If you have questions or topics you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
Nancy Daley-Moore, PhD, Health Science
Christine Harker, PhD, English
Scott Alberts, PhD, Statistics

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Related Links:

Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group Videos and Emails

Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website

COVID-19 Campus Communications

 

 

 

 

 

As the pandemic and mitigation strategies continue to evolve, it is important that we have the most timely and accurate information possible to inform our decisions, including the mask mandate.  That means we need to update our June data about the percentage of our campus that is vaccinated.  We also ask that you participate in a second survey to explore attitudes about the COVID vaccine among those who are vaccinated and those who are not.  It is our hope that every member of our campus community will complete both surveys.

Survey #1

To share your vaccination status, please go to https://forms.gle/bcNV6M9BXM9RD3SP7.  When the Google login is presented, you will need to enter your Truman email address to complete the survey.  The site is available now through the close of business on Friday, September 10.

There are only two questions on the first survey:

1. Are you fully vaccinated for COVID-19?
2. If you answered “no”, have you begun the vaccination process?

If you answer “yes” to either of the questions, you will be asked to upload an image of your vaccination card so we can have the most accurate information about verification status.  Once Human Resources verifies vaccination status from the card image, the card image will be deleted.  The image will be deleted no later than September 17.  If you do not wish to upload an image of your vaccination card, you may go to Human Resources (101 McClain Hall) to share your status from 8am-5pm, Monday – Friday.  Please be sure to bring your vaccination card with you.

Vaccination status is being collected to have knowledge about the campus as a whole. To be considered to be fully vaccinated or in the process of being vaccinated, you must upload an image of your card or present it to the staff in Human Resources.  You will not be contacted about your individual vaccination status.

Survey #2

To participate in the second survey, please go to https://survey.truman.edu/surveys/2b528d2a-5103-46a7-a5ba-27c17dda33b3.  This eight question survey is sponsored by Truman’s Faculty Senate COVID Working Group, and faculty and staff are encouraged to share their thoughts.

The survey asks about personal health and attitude information; data are collected anonymously and can only be accessed by the Faculty Senate COVID Working Group.  Aggregated results will be shared with the campus.  The purpose of the survey is to gather information that may inform strategies to promote a healthy and thriving campus.

Truman is successfully navigating the pandemic because we consistently step up to keep each other safe and well.  Sharing your vaccination status and completing the second survey are quick and easy ways to continue this commitment to one another.  Thank you in advance for providing this essential information.

Office of the President
200 McClain Hall
100 E. Normal Avenue
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4100
www.truman.edu

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Related Links:

• Coronavirus Updates and Resources Website
• All Communications