In these times, when we must all make changes because of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Dawson and I salute you for your ability to adapt and for keeping the welfare of our students at the forefront.  We commend your dedication to teaching our students and helping them learn and succeed academically under the conditions that currently face us.  Thank you for following the health and safety rules of wearing a face covering when you are in university buildings, for social distancing, and for completing Charger Healthcheck every three days or more frequently.  Collectively, by our abidance of these health and safety rules we are helping to keep each other and our students safe. 

Before fall semester, I shared with you the “Expectation and Enforcement Notice” that outlined penalties required by the UA System for violations of the University’s Safety and Health Requirements for Presence on UAH’s Campus During the COVID-19 Pandemic Policy, Number 02.01.71 (the “Policy”).  After several months of proven compliance to the Policy by UAH faculty and staff, and after multiple conversations with the UA System Office asking them for relief from the overly harsh penalties, the UA System has changed the penalties for violations in the “Expectation and Enforcement Notice.” The amended “Notice” now reads

On-Campus Safety Requirements

Employees who have returned to their on-campus work location must comply with all UAH COVID-19 safety measures, policies and directives such as wearing a face mask, completing the required reports on the Charger Healthcheck, social distancing, etc.  If an employee fails to follow these on-campus safety requirements, progressive disciplinary measures will be imposed according to the UAH Faculty and UAH Staff Handbooks, respectively. Repeated, egregious or willful violations of COVID-19 safety measures, including insubordination, will result in heightened sanctions, up to and including unpaid suspension or termination of employment.

Please continue to abide by the safety and health requirements to protect your health and the health of others in the university community.

Fall Semester

The fall semester is more than half over. In less than a month, we'll take a break for Thanksgiving. November 20, 2020 is the last day classes will meet in person on campus. No classes will be held during the week of Thanksgiving.  Please note that the University will be open for business on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. All classes will resume in online format on November 30, 2020 until exams begin the following week.  The official academic calendar can be found at https://www.uah.edu/registrar/calendars .

The end of fall semester class schedule is outlined below:

November 20 Last day classes meet in person on campus
November 23 to 27 No classes during Thanksgiving Week
November 30 Classes resume online
December 4 End of fall semester classes
December 5 and 6 Study days
December 7 Finals begin
December 14 and 15 Commencement

Commencement

Commencement will be held on December 14 and 15, 2020, at the Von Braun Center.  Graduates from spring semester 2020, summer 2020, and fall 2020 are invited to participate.  Two ceremonies are planned for each day.  Ceremonies will be conducted by college or several colleges combined.  Social distancing will be observed which allows the seating of 240 to 260 graduates on the floor. Each graduate will receive four tickets for guests.  Faculty may attend, will be provided a ticket, and can sit in either the lower or upper tier.  The ceremony will be simple with the emphasis placed on conferring degrees and on the graduates walking across the stage and having their picture taken with the President.  There will not be any receptions after the ceremonies.

Spring Semester

On-Campus Courses.  It is important for us as a university to fully engage our students, help our students learn, and, whenever possible, bring them to campus for these important interactions.  Hybrid courses give us the opportunity to meet the students face-to-face and engage them directly.   For students to learn and connect with their peers, faculty, and the campus, it is important for faculty teaching hybrid courses to conduct them in person in the assigned location on the scheduled in-class days.   Class meetings in hybrid courses should only be converted to online for pedagogical or health/safety reasons (e.g., the instructor is quarantined).  Every hybrid course should meet on campus for 80% or more of the class meeting days. Varying from this expectation requires approval from the faculty member's department chair and dean.

Plexiglass Around Lectern.  If a faculty member wants plexiglass around the lectern in the classroom in which he or she is scheduled to teach, the home department should submit a Facilities & Operations (F&O) work order.  Please submit any such request to the F&O work order system via phone:  256-824-6490 or email:  wodesk@uah.edu.  Please submit this request as soon as possible.

Parking. Faculty and staff, who are working remotely and not coming to campus during fall semester but who need a parking pass for spring semester, may purchase a parking permit in January for $95.  If you need to come on campus during fall semester, daily visitor passes are available for $5 per day at the Intermodal Facility.

Charger Healthcheck 

For faculty and staff who are on campus, please remember to complete the Charger Healthcheck every three days or more often.  When answering the prompts, only record new or more severe symptoms that are not normal for you, especially if accompanied by fever.  

Reporting Exposure to COVID-19.  If you test positive for COVID-19 or if a faculty, staff, or student in a university building notifies you that the individual has had an exposure (close contact) to a positive COVID-19 case or has a positive COVID-19 lab result, notify the university as soon as possible. Provide information on when you or the individual you are reporting was last on campus, in which buildings, the areas in the buildings you or the individual spent more than 15 minutes, and whether you or the individual was wearing a mask.  Provide any information available about the other members of the university community with whom you or the affected individual had close contact.

To make these notifications,

For faculty and staff, please contact Associate Vice President for Human Resources, Ms. Laurel Long, at longl@uah.edu  or 256-824-6545 (email preferred).  If you are the affected person, please call the Faculty and Staff Clinic at 256-824-2100.  If you are reporting another faculty or staff member, please encourage that individual to call the Faculty and Staff Clinic at 256-824-2100. 

For students, please contact the Dean of Students, Dr. Ronnie Hebert, dos@uah.edu or 256-824- 6700.  Please encourage the student to contact the Student Health Center at 256-824-6775, Ext 3.

Please follow HIPAA rules.  Only disclose the identity of the person you are reporting to the official receiver of the information who is listed above.  Do not disclose that information to anyone else. For a full list of HIPAA guidelines, visit the US Department of Health and Human Services website.  Please note that guidelines can change.

This information is given in the Notification Protocol at https://www.uah.edu/return-to-campus/health-and-safety/reporting-exposure.

GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification App  

The GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification app is available to UAH faculty, staff, and students at no charge.  Everyone in the university community is encouraged to use this app because it affords us the opportunity to protect each other and ourselves during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Users of the GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification App can anonymously share a positive COVID-19 test result.  The app also obtains information on close contacts so that you can be anonymously notified of potential previous close contact with someone who later reports a positive COVID-19 test result without sharing anyone’s identity. The app protects your privacy while giving you the power to protect the health of yourself, your family, and your community. Use of the app is voluntary for all UAH faculty, staff and students.

Traditional contact tracing by experts at public health departments and notification protocols at UAH will continue. The GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification app does not replace either of those processes. The app, however, can help anonymously notify those who you do not know or do not remember about possible exposure.  For more information about the GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification app and a list of frequently asked questions, please visit the GuideSafe™ website.

Additional information about the GuideSafe™ Exposure Notification App can be found at the UAH reopening website https://www.uah.edu/return-to-campus/health-and-safety/exposure-notification-app

Salmon Library

Hours for fall semester through November 19  
Monday-Thursday 7:30 am - 10:30 pm
Friday 7:30 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm 

This schedule will change on November 20, 2020, and through Thanksgiving week.

November 20 — November 29, 2020 (Interim Hours)  
Friday, November 20 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday, November 21 CLOSED
Sunday, November 22 CLOSED
Monday, November 23 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Tuesday, November 24 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday, November 25 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
November 26 through November 28 CLOSED
Sunday, November 29 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm

 

November 30 — December 10, 2020 (Standard Hours):   
Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 10:30 pm
Friday 7:30 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sunday 1:00 pm – 10:00 pm 

 

December 11 — December 23, 2020 (Interim Hours)  
Monday — Friday 7:30 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday CLOSED
Sunday CLOSED

You can find the Library’s complete hours at https://libguides.uah.edu/hours.

 

Christine W. Curtis
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

To submit an announcement, contact omc@uah.edu.
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