Dear Campus Community:

With the beginning of the Spring 2021 semester, please review the updated policies below regarding special leave and telecommuting options due to the pandemic:

Expanded Leave Options:

Families First Coronavirus Response Act:

• Emergency Sick Leave and Emergency FMLA expired on December 31, 2020. However, employers may voluntarily extend that leave through March 31, 2021. This extension does not replenish the amount of leave offered to each employee. Employees who used their 80 hours of Emergency Sick Leave and/or 12 weeks of Emergency FMLA in 2020 will no longer be eligible for this leave.
• Employees who did not use all of the allotted leave in 2020 may still be eligible. Contact Human Resources with questions at 660-785-4031. More information about the FFCRA and the required forms may be found HERE.

Employees affected by school and daycare closures:

• Employees who need to care for immediate family members due to closures or limits of schools or daycares may use up to 30 days of sick leave for that purpose.
• Employees also may use vacation leave for this purpose and, if needed, may use up to 15 days of vacation leave before it is earned. It will be tracked as a negative balance and will later be replenished with future accruals.

Sick employees:

If an employee becomes sick, cannot work through telecommuting arrangements and has insufficient accrued paid leave, the employee may use up to 15 days of vacation leave before it has been earned, to be replenished later with future accruals.

Employees unable to telecommute:

• Employees who are directed to quarantine or isolate due to COVID-19 and who are unable to telecommute may use sick, vacation or compensatory leave, and if needed, may use up to 15 days of vacation leave before it is earned. It will be tracked as a negative balance and will later be replenished with future accruals.

Telecommuting:

• Telecommuting arrangements may be requested by employees under the following circumstances: the employee has a medical condition that puts the employee at increased risk for COVID-19, the employee has been directed to quarantine or isolate due to COVID-19, or the employee has children unable to attend school or daycare due to COVID-19. All other faculty and staff are expected to work on campus, unless the employee was hired with a remote work arrangement or unless directed to work remotely by a supervisor.
• Faculty and staff who received an accommodation to work from home during the Fall 2020 semester due to a medical condition may continue to receive that same accommodation for the Spring 2021 semester without submitting new documentation.
• Employees requesting to work from home for the first time should complete the Telecommuting Request Form, available HERE. Supervisors should work with their employees to complete the form, including a detailed plan for a daily schedule and work assignments, and then submit the form to the appropriate member of the Executive Leadership Team or their designees for final approval. This plan also must be reviewed by Human Resources.

Please contact Human Resources with any questions.

Human Resources
Truman State University
McClain Hall 101
100 E. Normal Avenue
Kirksville, MO 63501
(660) 785-4031
hrstaff@truman.edu
www.truman.edu

Welcome back, Bulldogs!

As we are set to begin the spring semester, and in light of all of the events we have experienced in the past year, most recently at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, I am reminded of the William James quote:

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

In terms of the pandemic, our approach to the spring semester is no different than our approach to the fall semester. The fall semester was proof that, while this is a unique school year with never-before-seen challenges, with perseverance, grace, and respect for everyone in our community, we can achieve what many thought would be impossible. For us to realize the same success in the spring semester, we must all continue to be vigilant and thoughtful in our actions.

Masks are a Must
The campus mask policy remains in effect. Masks are required at all times in any campus building, with the exception of students in their private residence hall room, employees in a private office, or when an individual is dining. Returning students should also be aware that the City of Kirksville adopted a mask policy in late November. Masks are now required in all Kirksville businesses.

Follow Safe Practices
Simple steps such as washing your hands, remaining at least six feet away from others, and always wearing a mask can help limit exposure to and spread of the virus. The Truman campus will continue to have plexiglass barriers in many public spaces, as well as controlled access to and through high-traffic areas. Classrooms are still spaced out in observance of proper social distance guidelines and room capacities are limited.

Interact Responsibly
Do not attend large gatherings. While parties are still unsafe options, you can create a pod of people to interact with regularly. Sometimes called bubbles, pods are partnerships between a few individuals. They can be a great way to experience social interactions while reducing the likelihood of acquiring COVID-19. Keep in mind, the smaller the pod, the less the risk of exposure. Pods are not invincible, and it is still important to be thoughtful in our choices.

Use Campus Clear
All faculty, staff, and students must monitor symptoms every day, including a daily temperature check, before arriving on campus or leaving a residence hall. The CampusClear app can be used to help with daily monitoring tasks. If symptoms of COVID-19 are experienced (without a separate known cause, e.g., asthma, allergies, etc.), the individual should not come to campus or leave the residence hall. CampusClear is free and available for Apple and Android devices.

Tests are Available
Students who use the CampusClear app are eligible to receive free COVID-19 tests at the Student Health Center. Students who use the app and are demonstrating symptoms, or who have been in contact with an individual with COVID-19, can contact the Student Health Center to schedule a test. Faculty and staff can obtain tests at Walgreens, Hy-Vee or Complete Family Medicine.

Take Care of Yourself
To maintain your physical and mental health, it is important to take supportive actions from the beginning of the semester. The tips and activities provided toward the end of last semester (https://www.truman.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Coping-During-Covid.pdf) can be very beneficial in helping to manage the stress and challenges you may experience this semester. Also check out the Campus Recreation website (https://recreation.truman.edu/) for other helpful activities and tips.

Stay Informed
The University will continue to maintain the COVID-19 website, which includes all campus messaging regarding the coronavirus, as well as related links to resources for health and wellness, campus life, and academics. Any major announcements will also be emailed to campus and posted in the Truman Today.

Truman rises to the occasion; it is who we are. The end of pandemic restrictions is in sight, but it remains months away, and we cannot let up now. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.

Be well and do well,

Susan L. Thomas, Ph.D.
President

Dear Faculty Senators, Deans, Chairs, and friends,

 

Welcome back (not that we went anywhere). We hope you did have a chance to relax and be refreshed over the holiday, at least for a little bit.

Here’s a 10-minute video to help think about coming back to classes next week.

As we get going, we want to make sure you’ve had a chance to think about COVID safety for the coming semester. The news about the vaccine is exciting, but it’s only one layer in our “Swiss Cheese Model,” especially given the time the vaccine rollout will take. The other layers remain important: Masks are still required in public areas on campus and in Kirksville. Daily symptom checking is expected. Classes should continue to enforce social distancing and

Many students coming back to Kirksville and may need to quarantine or may want to self-quarantine right away. We encourage you to support that if you can, and maybe even think about creative ways to do the first week of class. We were all sent information over break about General COVID-19 Protocols and Quarantine/Isolation Protocols. You might consider including it in the information and materials you share with students or go over in the first days of class.

Our local Walgreens has recently added COVID-19 testing, increasing Kirksville’s capacity. Remember that students can be tested on campus, but faculty and stuff can use Walgreens, Hy-Vee, local Urgent Care centers, and your own health provider. You might even want to think about having a COVID-19 test this week. Testing isn’t perfect either, but it’s one more layer in the “Swiss Cheese Model” and might help you feel better about a new semester.

==

Please forward this information to your departments or other interested groups of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends. Although we aim these videos and sheets at faculty, please share the video and this information with students in your classes and elsewhere.

Our earlier videos and Tip Sheets are available here:

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

If there are other questions or things you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
(Nancy Daley-Moore, Christine Harker, and Scott Alberts)

• Self-quarantine for 7 days before coming back to campus.  A self-quarantine could look like staying at home and limiting interactions with other humans prior to coming back to campus.
• Get tested in the 7 days prior to returning to campus.  Here is a list of COVID-19 testing providers.  Hy-Vee has free asymptomatic and symptomatic testing, and it’s a simple nose-swab all while sitting in your car.  You can register for the Hy-Vee testing here.
• Wear your mask on and off campus!  Adair County passed a mask mandate at the end of November.
• A comprehensive guide to general COVID-19 protocols can be found here, as well as on the University’s Coronavirus website.  Members of the Truman community who may need to quarantine or isolate can find protocols for that here.

Dear Truman Staff:

Staff Council would like to remind staff of available resources to stay up to date on topics related to COVID-19.

The University continues to offer updates online at: https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/ and at: https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/reporting/.

Faculty Senate has also been creating short videos that may also be of interest to staff: https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-working-group-videos/.

All forms and COVID-related leave information, along with resources from insurance vendors, can be found at: https://hr.truman.edu/covid-19-information-for-faculty-and-staff/.

Additional University resources can be found here: https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/coronavirus-resources/.

All the best,

Staff Council

Dear Faculty Senators, Deans, Chairs, and friends,

Here’s a 7-minute video summary of this week’s COVID numbers, which remain flat on campus, even as the county numbers have exploded.

The county makes a daily report here:

https://adair.lphamo.org/2019-novel-coronavirus-update/

Our relative success on campus is due to following the ideas from that swiss cheese model.

No method is perfect, but by doing “all the things,” we can help keep things under control.

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

With only two weeks left in the semester, we encourage faculty to:

• Encourage students to follow the in-class policies ALL THE TIME, whether at the grocery store, Hy-Vee, a student organization, or church.
• Think about your own “endgame.”
  1. Our revised schedule is confusing, make sure students are clear about your due dates, revisions, and plans for your final (online or in person).
  2. Think about your options for the “dead week.” While we shouldn’t be presenting any new material during the week AFTER thanksgiving, faculty can allow students to slide some deadlines back into that week (up to their scheduled final exam time).
  3. Invite students to talk to you about an incomplete. Maybe they can finish over the longer-than-usual holiday. Expect more requests than usual, given the numbers who had to quarantine multiple times, etc.
  4. Think about what makes sense for your class. Some assignments (presentations, etc.) are tricky to figure out a delay, while others (paper revisions, reflective writing assignments) might be relatively easy to push back to the dead week or an incomplete.
• Consider plans for Thanksgiving. If you are planning a family Thanksgiving dinner, consider some sort of mini self-quarantine.
  1. You wouldn’t even need to be in full lockdown, but following the campus policies ALL THE TIME for 10-14 days before you travel could help keep your family and friends safe.
  2. Talking to students about this in class could help them make good choices.
  3. Even if you are asymptomatic, you don’t want to be a spreader.

—

Please forward this information to your departments or other interested groups of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends. Although we aim this material at our faculty, please share the video and this information with students in your classes and elsewhere.

Our earlier videos and Tip Sheets are available here:

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

If there are other questions or things you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
(Nancy Daley-Moore, Christine Harker, and Scott Alberts)

Dear Faculty Senators, Deans, Chairs, and friends,

Here’s a 10-minute video summary of this week’s COVID numbers, which have increased a bit on-campus, in the context of skyrocketing numbers in the county and region.

As we end our semester, we are happy that we were able to pull the semester off at all, mostly due to the fact that our students, faculty and staff did make good decisions for the most part. We have seen some relaxed standards as the semester ends, so we know we need to be vigilant over the break and when we return in January.

We do ask you to encourage your students to think and re-think their Thanksgiving plans. If they didn’t really quarantine this week, they really should consider NOT having a full dinner with friends and family when they get home. We know that’s a hard ask, but given that many students who test positive are not presenting symptoms, or present mild symptoms like a cold or runny nose, having a gathering with people who are older and with weaker immune systems is a bad idea, even if you think you are not infected.

It would also be great to encourage students to think about their plans when they come back to campus in January. Try to limit exposure for a week to ten days before you return to Kirksville, and during that first week, consider a “quasi-quarantine,” where you do as many layers of the “Swiss cheese model” as you can, even as far as wearing a mask around your roommate or flatmates, avoiding gatherings, etc.

This is you last video update of the semester. The testing and contact tracing teams will continue their work through the break, especially for those students who will be on campus through finals week and beyond, including international students, athletes, and others. Our next update will likely be on January 6^th, but we’ll try to keep you posted of any developments.

Please forward this information to your departments or other interested groups of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends. Although we aim these videos and sheets at faculty, please share the video and this information with students in your classes and elsewhere.

Our earlier videos and Tip Sheets are available here:

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

If there are other questions or things you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
(Nancy Daley-Moore, Christine Harker, and Scott Alberts)

Dear Faculty Senators, Deans, Chairs, and friends,

Here’s a 4-minute video summary of this week’s COVID numbers, which have decreased on-campus, but in the context of increased numbers in the county and region.

Right now, we have fewer campus cases, but many in quarantine. As faculty members, we need to encourage students to follow quarantine, even when that means that we faculty have to rethink assignments or how students demonstrate their skills. We should not be simply telling them to get notes from a friend, especially this semester, when we can’t always build community in our classroom. We don’t want students to break quarantine to attend your course activity in person, no matter how important it is. As the semester nears its end (less than three weeks left!), this will become even more important with papers, projects and final exams.

Being supportive and flexible with students in quarantine and isolation is not just because to be excellent and ethical teachers (although it is), but to encourage everyone to comply with quarantine restrictions. It’s to everyone’s advantage to keep the number of illnesses on campus down.  We can see the finish line of a successful fall semester.

On November 9^th, another round of free COVID-19 testing will happen at the NEMO fairgrounds.

Advance registration will be required, and will be up on this page soon:

http://www.health.mo.gov/communitytest

Ongoing drive-through COVID is available at the Kirksville Hy-Vee on limited days, sponsored by eTrueNorth

You need to register ahead of time at this link.

https://doineedacovid19test.com/

https://doineedacovid19test.com/Kirksville_MO_2079.html

Flu shots continue to be offered to students at the Health Center, as well as at local pharmacies and health centers. While flu shots don’t protect you against COVID

Please forward this information to your departments or other interested groups of faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends. Although we aim these videos and sheets at faculty, please share the video and this information with students in your classes and elsewhere.

Our earlier videos and Tip Sheets are available here:

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

If there are other questions or things you’d like to know more about, please contact us at: ndmoore@truman.edu

-Faculty Senate COVID-19 Working Group
(Nancy Daley-Moore, Christine Harker, and Scott Alberts)

All registered voters are reminded and encouraged to participate in the Nov. 3 election.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anyone in line at the closing time of 7 p.m. will have the right to cast their vote.

Students are eligible to vote in the county in which they have registered. Students living on campus and registered to vote in Adair County will be able to vote at polling stations in the Student Union Building Down Under between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Employees and students living off campus and registered to vote in Adair County are able to identify their assigned polling location, based on their local address, through the Secretary of State Voter Outreach site.

Adair County voters currently in quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 can still vote through a drive-up voting station Nov. 2. The Adair County Health Department will conduct the clinic from 12-5 p.m. at the north side of the court house downtown. Participants must be registered to vote in Adair County and be on the health department’s list. They should contact the health department at 660.665.8491 to schedule an appointment.

While at the polling location, it is important to remember the basic safety protocols in place as a result of the pandemic. Maintain proper social distance when waiting in line, wear a mask, spend as little time inside as necessary and use hand sanitizer after leaving.

As a campus community, Truman values the civic responsibility of voting and understands that fitting in time to vote may be more difficult for some than others. Some polling lines may be long and other circumstances may influence the time it takes to complete the voting process. This should be taken into consideration if students or employees are tardy or absent for a portion of the day due to voting. Employees are granted up to three hours of paid time off to vote, and faculty are encouraged to support student voting as expressed in the Student Government Resolution. All offices are expected to maintain regular business hours, so it is essential for staff to coordinate with colleagues and consult with their direct supervisor regarding their intentions for participating in the election.

Patience and understanding will be required after election day as well. Results may not be known immediately. This is not cause for concern as a delay is expected. For tips on dealing with election-related stress, click here. While this election is characterized by intense polarization, it is important as a campus community to focus on shared values, including a respect for different perspectives and opinions. Regardless of the outcome, the Truman community will remain committed to joining together as a Bulldog family and working together to make the world a better place.

Truman will begin the spring semester Jan. 11, 2021, while continuing to follow the same safety protocols in place since the start of the academic year.

As with the fall semester, classes will be offered in multiple formats, including in person, online and a hybrid combination. The set-up for classrooms and common spaces will continue to allow for social distancing, and the campus-wide mask policy will remain in effect. The University is prepared to adjust its approach to the spring semester – either by shifting entirely online or relaxing certain protocols – depending on how the situation with COVID-19 unfolds and in consultation with CDC guidelines and the advice of the Adair County Health Department and the Student Health Center.

Students, faculty and staff were asked to provide feedback on a variety of schedule options for the spring semester. An overwhelming majority of students, and roughly half of faculty and staff, preferred to keep the existing spring schedule, which was a factor in the decision to make no changes. The spring semester will observe the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, Jan. 18, as well as Spring Break, March 8-12, and Term Break, April 5.

Students, faculty, and staff are strongly encouraged to maintain vigilance in helping to limit exposure to and spread of COVID-19 on campus for the remainder of this semester and next semester. Mass gatherings should be avoided and traveling should be limited.

The pandemic is an ever-changing situation, and the University will make any necessary adjustments as needs arise. All campus-wide messaging related to COVID-19 and the spring semester will be posted at https://www.truman.edu/coronavirus/. The newly redesigned page also has links for academics, campus life, health and wellness, resources, and frequently asked questions.