Asymptomatic COVID-19 Screening Testing for Students Through eMed

Starting after Fall Break, our COVID-19 asymptomatic screening testing program will be administered by eMed, a telehealth provider.

The Student Health Center, located in the Yalich Student Services Center, will continue providing tests for symptomatic COVID-19 testing, follow-up testing to positive antigen tests, and testing after exposure.

All students will take a COVID test at the end of Fall Break. The data from this baseline testing will inform frequency of testing moving forward.

Later today, Nov. 16, all students will receive an email from noreply@navica.abbott (sent to your CC email account). Follow the instructions in the email to download the Navica app, create an account, and enter the Connect Code to connect your account to Colorado College. Once you have connected your account, you are ready to participate in testing. Create your account and connect to Colorado College by Monday, Nov. 22. If you haven’t received the email invitation, please check your junk email folder, and contact us at covid19@coloradocollege.edu as needed.

Prior to the beginning of Block 4, all students, except for those who have received a positive COVID-19 test result in the 90 days prior, will receive an email from covid19@coloradocollege.edu prompting them to pick up a BinaxNow test kit. BinaxNow test kits will be available at the Tutt Library circulation desk beginning
Monday, Nov. 29, at 8 a.m. You must bring and swipe your Gold Card to pick up a test kit. Students with exemptions who test twice weekly may pick up two test kits at a time each week.

For the initial testing after Fall Break, students residing in Mathias, South, and Loomis Halls should pick up their test kit at their hall’s front desk beginning Monday, Nov. 29, during desk hours.

Students will self-administer the test, e.g., in their room, supervised by eMed through a telehealth session. Our email communication will include detailed instructions. Students, please do not open the test kit before being prompted to do so during the telehealth session to make sure your test is recorded and counts toward the testing requirement. Please watch this short video to learn more about how to start your telehealth session and administer the test. Detailed information and FAQs about eMed testing are available here and at the bottom of this message.  

We will send a separate email regarding COVID-19 testing for faculty and staff soon.

Thank you for your participation in our testing program. Please reach out to us with any questions: covid19@coloradocollege.edu.

Sincerely,

Andrea Bruder
Chief Public Health Advisor to the President 

Mateo Muñoz
Chair, COVID-19 Policy and Implementation Committee

eMed FAQs

What kind of test does CC use for screening testing? 
The BinaxNow COVID-19 Ag Card is an antigen test. The sample is an anterior nasal swab. Antigen tests (not to be confused with antibody tests) detect COVID-19 infections very reliably during the infectious period, making them an excellent tool for screening testing. Their tendency not to pick up prior infections after recovery will help to reduce isolation needs. Because some false positive results are to be expected, all positive antigen test results are followed up by a molecular test at the Student Health Center located in the Yalich Student Services Center.  

How is the test administered?
 
Students self-administer the test, supervised by a telehealth provider, eMed.

How will I receive my test results?
 
You will receive your test results via the Navica app as well as via email.  

What happens if I receive a positive BinaxNow test result through eMed?
 
If you’ve received a positive test result, put on your mask (unless you are in your room by yourself with the door closed) and stay away from others. Our COVID-19 response  coordinator  will call you and discuss next steps.  Students will need to schedule a follow-up test at the Student Health Center to confirm the test result.  Do NOT go to the Student Health Center before speaking with a COVID-19 response team member. All positive test results will be followed up with a molecular test at the Student Health Center, located in the Yalich Student Services Center. Please stay near your phone.  
  • If the follow-up test is positive, the COVID-19 Response Team  will help you with isolation housing needs, meal and mail delivery, prescriptions, and other needs.
  • Students should contact their professor to discuss their needs for support, adaptation, or assistance with class.  
  • If the follow-up test is negative, you have no symptoms, and there’s been no known exposure, you will not need to isolate. 

Will testing still be available at Boettcher?
 
No. However, the Student Health Center, located in the Yalich Student Services Center, will continue providing tests for symptomatic COVID-19 testing, testing after exposure, and follow-up testing to positive antigen tests.  

What should I do if I have symptoms?
 
If you experience symptoms of COVID-19, please stay home. Students should contact the Student Health Center (719) 389-6384 to make an appointment with a provider who will help with testing and treatment needs. Provider appointments are available seven days a week (see schedule below). Students should also contact their professor to discuss their needs for support, adaptation, or assistance with class.  

Student Health Center, Yalich Student Services Center: 
Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-noon and 1-7 p.m. 
Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Can I use these test results for travel, attending events, etc.?
 
Yes. Simply show your test result on the Navica app. 

Who has access to the test results?
 
Each student has access to their own test results via the Navica app; eMed reports the test results to the county health department (required) and CC. At CC, the Testing Team, the Student Health Center, and the COVID-19 Response Team have access to the test results. 

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Last Chance to Submit! President’s Leadership Awards — Nov. 19

There is still time to honor individuals or groups who have made a difference in your life and the lives of others at CC.

As part of our strategic initiative to foster workplace excellence, it’s important to recognize those who are making a difference. 

Submit nominations for the President’s Leadership Awards to recognize colleagues who make an impact as strong leaders, innovative role models, and positive collaborators now through the end of Block 3. The deadline to submit nominations is November 19, 2021. Previous winners were nominated by faculty or staff colleagues.
Check out examples of winning nominations to help inspire you in drafting a stand-out submission. Tips include telling a detailed story about the person or group and how they demonstrated the qualities of the award namesake, the college’s leadership philosophy, and CC’s antiracism efforts
Nominate a deserving colleague or team of individuals, based on the following criteria:
  • Brian Young Community Service Award: This awardee demonstrates a continued pattern of voluntary service to the college and exceeding their job duties, as demonstrated by former Vice President for Information Technology Brian Young. The awardee must have been employed by the college for five years or more. Submit a nomination.
  • Victor Nelson-Cisneros Diversity and Inclusion Award: This awardee exemplifies the qualities of former Associate Dean of the College Victor Nelson-Cisneros in supporting diversity and inclusion on campus. Submit a nomination.
  • Glenn Brooks Innovation and Courage Award: This awardee displays the courage and innovative qualities of former Dean of the College/Dean of the Faculty Glenn Brooks, who was one of the founders of the Block Plan. Submit a nomination.
  • Jane Cauvel Cultivating Collaboration and Community-building Award: This awardee cultivates collaboration on campus and is a community-builder, as exemplified by Jane Cauvel, professor of philosophy emerita, and the college’s first ombudsperson. Submit a nomination.
Winners each year will receive: $2,500 cash prize, a feature on the President’s Leadership Awards website, and a leadership trophy to display for a full year. Winners will be announced in Block 5. The individuals who submit winning nominations will also be recognized.
Thank you for helping to recognize CC’s exceptional leaders, and to honor the individuals who strive to make our college great. 
For questions about the awards program or the nomination process, please contact Lyrae Williams

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Fall Break is Coming: Submit Timesheets Early

Dear Faculty and Staff,


Fall Break is fast approaching. The Payroll Office will be closed during the break, and will be processing payroll early to ensure employees get paid on November 30, 2021.
 
This means timesheets for the November 7-21 pay period are due early. 
 
Submit timesheets no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17, 2021, estimating your hours to be worked through November 21, 2021. If there are any changes from your estimated hours, please notify the Payroll Office when you return from Fall Break.
 
Supervisors, please make sure timesheets are approved no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 18, 2021.
 
Contact payroll with any questions at payroll@coloradocollege.edu” style=”font-weight: normal;font-weight: normal;color: #7a6646;text-decoration: underline;color: #7a6646;text-decoration: underline”>payroll@coloradocollege.edu or x6420.
 
Since the office is experiencing a high volume of email and voice messages, you can expect a response to your message within 24 hours of receipt. 

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Doing What We Do Better: Climate Survey

Dear Staff and Faculty, 

As Susan Ashley and I shared earlier this month, we are thinking about the ways we can gather valuable input from you to inform Project 2024 so we can do what we do at CC even better. An employee climate and engagement survey is an essential part of this process.
 
After consulting with the Staff Council chairs and the FEC, we decided to run the survey during Block 4. From Dec. 1-22, you’ll have the opportunity to share your thoughts, ideas, and feedback on what you like most about CC, what you think we could improve, and how we call on our strengths – as individuals and as an institution – to achieve our goals.
 
Why now? While many of you were here when the college completed climate surveys in 2013 and 2015, we have many new employees in every division in the college. This is a transitional moment at CC, with new leadership and the evolving nature of the pandemic providing us with new opportunities to do things differently. As a society, we are grappling with fundamental questions about racism and structural inequities. Some are questioning the liberal arts. I want to hear from you and understand how you feel about our campus climate and how you’re affected by these pivotal issues. 
 
With your partnership, I hope to nurture a culture of transparency and empower us, as members of our CC community, to have powerful conversations about our priorities, our challenges, and what we need, in order to do what we do better. 
 
Keep an eye out for additional messaging ahead of the survey’s opening date and follow-up messages throughout the month of December from our survey partner, ModernThink.
 
I sincerely thank you for your participation in this anonymous survey.

L. Song Richardson

President

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Fall Break Details and COVID Information Session

Dear Campus Community,


As we near the end of Block 3 and the start of Fall Break, we want to thank you for the continued adherence to our risk mitigation protocols and participation in our COVID-19 testing program. Your actions have enabled us to experience an in-person Fall Semester. Thank you for staying diligent. 

We have brought together campus leaders to share details about where we are with positivity rates, testing, vaccinations, quarantine protocols, attending class, travel and student gathering policies, and accessing health services on campus, along with on-campus supports during Fall Break. The two of us, along with Rochelle Dickey, dean of students/vice president for student life, and Heather Horton, senior director of student health and well-being, share a wealth of information in the info session video at the end of this message. 
 
Current COVID Stats  
Since Monday, the Student Health Center has performed 1,477 COVID-19 tests, with lower positivity as the week progressed. Screening testing continues on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All students who haven’t yet tested should schedule their test 
here. Our COVID-19 dashboard has been updated with the latest data for the CC community.  
  
Fall Break COVID-19 Protocols 
 
  • Please continue to participate in testing; it is critical in helping to keep our community safe and in protecting others.  
  • Those students who do not cooperate with contact tracers or who do not adhere to travel protocols after receiving a positive test result will be referred to the Community Standards & Conduct process.
  • Students who receive positive test results this week may need to adjust their Fall Break travel plans as they will have to isolate for 10 days and may not travel, per the local health department’s requirements. 
o   The health department allows travel by personal vehicle if students travel home to isolate. The destination should not be farther away than what would require one tank of gas, limiting interaction and transmission. 
o   Students who travel home must continue and complete isolation there. 
o   Family members at the destination should be made aware of the risk of transmission. 
  • Students who received a positive COVID test and who disregard isolation rules and travel by plane or public transportation can be put on a “No Board” list. 
  • Every day, students in isolation will get a check from a COVID coordinator and daily meal/mail/prescription delivery continues over Fall Break. Students on campus will also have access to virtual and to-go activities from Campus Activities during the break.
  • Students who have not participated in testing since Nov. 1 will be contacted directly; if you have not been tested please sign up for a testing time as soon as possible. Testing times are available this Sat. and Sun., Nov. 13-14, noon-2 p.m.
  • The COVID Response Team will work with students on the process for exiting isolation over the break.
  • If you have received a positive COVID-19 test result and need to alter your travel plans and isolate on campus, the COVID Response Team will alert the Residential Experience Team. You’ll hear from your COVID coordinator and your RLC with more information. 
  • All students are required to take a COVID-19 test after Fall Break. As announced previously, screening testing will be administered by eMed, a telehealth provider. We will send out more information soon.
  • Students who receive positive test results during Fall Break will follow our isolation protocols and should contact their Block 4 professor to discuss options. 

Resources and Support 
CC is a residential college and does not “shut down” during Fall Break. In a typical year, several hundred students stay on campus during the break. 

Students staying on campus will have access to campus dining options, virtual activities and to-go kits, small-scale on-campus programming, and other supports. View the detailed Fall Break Digest from Campus Activities.

 
  • The Student Health Center will be open for normal hours through the end of Block 3, Wed., Nov. 17, (11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 8 a.m.-noon and 1-7:30 p.m. Monday- Wednesday), with limited hours Nov. 18 and 19 (noon-5 p.m.). Contact the SHC, (719) 389-6384, if you’re feeling sick. They will determine care and necessary testing.  
  • Symptomatic Testing
o   Beginning Saturday, Nov. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 28, students should contact the Optum Medical Center Point Urgent Care, (719) 636-2999, if they are experiencing symptoms or feeling unwell. 
  • Asymptomatic Testing 
o   Asymptomatic testing is available prior to Fall Break at Boettcher Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 15-17 (8 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m.). 
 
Feeling stressed or overwhelmed? The Wellness Resource Center provides many online resources to help manage anxiety and stress. The Counseling Center counselor-on-call and after-hours access to a mental health provider remain available during Fall Break.

Reduce the Risk  
Remember, you can still carry the virus while not experiencing symptoms and take the infection home or elsewhere. This is why it is critical to isolate if you receive a positive test result. 
El Paso County and other parts of the country are experiencing high transmission. We are likely to encounter the virus when out and about, and we encourage everyone to continue wearing masks while indoors, wherever you are. 
 
We encourage ALL members of the CC community to travel responsibly.
  • Please follow CDC guidance for domestic and international travel during COVID. Depending on your destination and vaccination status, this may entail testing. Testing is available prior to Fall Break at Boettcher.  
  • Test prior to departure to protect family members who may be more at risk of severe illness.
  • Do NOT travel or interact with others if you’re feeling unwell. 
  • Get tested if you’re sick. 
  • Avoid large gatherings and mask up indoors. 
  • Get your COVID-19 booster shot. 

We are grateful for our CC community and appreciate your support as we continue to navigate this pandemic together. 
 
Sincerely, 

Andrea Bruder
Chief Public Health Advisor to the President 
  
Mateo Muñoz
Chair, COVID-19 Policy and Implementation Committee 

Managing COVID-19 Information Session Video
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Save the Date: Block 4 Virtual First Mondays

“What is Innovation, Anyway?” with Dez Stone Menendez

Mark your calendar for the final First Mondays event of the Fall Semester. Monday, Nov. 29 at 11:15 a.m., start Block 4 together, virtually, with our 1M speaker. 


What is innovation, anyway? Director of Creativity & Innovation Dez Stone Menendez ’00, explores that question and what it means to expand innovation beyond the commercial sphere to the cultural, social, and personal. She will share the philosophy and guiding principles behind the Creativity & Innovation initiative at CC.

This virtual First Mondays event will take place via Zoom. Please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The First Mondays Event Series is a campus-wide forum that aims to engage all members of the CC community, including students, staff, administrators, and faculty. The series creates opportunities for the whole community to gather, encouraging everyone to be part of the intellectual life of the college, and facilitating discourse among students, faculty, and staff, across courses, disciplines, and divisions. Classes are dismissed early on the first Monday of each block so that all may attend the First Mondays event.

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Creativity & Innovation Updates and Opportunities, Block 3, Week 3

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Updates & Opportunities
Block 3, Week 3

Block 4 First Monday Presentation
by
Director of Creativity & Innovation
Dez Stone Menendez ’00

Monday, November 29th, 2021 
11:15 a.m.

Register in advance for this webinar here. 

View the event on the Campus Calendar here.
 

What is Innovation, Anyway?
Creativity & Innovation in Higher Education
 
In this talk, Dez Stone Menendez (’00), director of Creativity & Innovation, explores what it means to expand innovation beyond the commercial sphere to the cultural, social, and personal, and shares the philosophy and guiding principles behind the Creativity & Innovation initiative at CC. We are at a cultural moment in which challenges abound, socially, politically, economically. The world is more interdependent than ever before, and the challenges of the 21st century demand multilateral solutions that presently don’t exist. It is, therefore, critical that the current generation of college students is provided with robust opportunities to build the skills and attitudes they need to address these challenges. Although it is difficult to create a formula to prepare students for 21st century problems, there is a clear need for higher education to re-think how to help students access their own inner resources and develop the creative confidence to address areas that call out for new and radical solutions — to become changemakers in their own lives and in the world.
 
In keeping with CC’s history of challenging educational norms, Creativity & Innovation at CC takes a more radical approach to “innovation” than many of our peer institutions. Rather than building a stand-alone program on the edge of campus, we have taken a broader, more integrated approach by actively collaborating with faculty and co-curricular partners in all areas of the college to develop programs that help students learn to: navigate ambiguity, communicate across difference, build resilience, and move ideas into action. In this talk, Dez shares how Creativity & Innovation is working to amplify and support opportunities for students to develop the capacities that will prepare them to face the complex challenges – and unique opportunities — of our rapidly changing world.

                         

Dez Stone Menendez (’00) started as the director of Creativity & Innovation at Colorado College in September 2016. She began working as a serial entrepreneur at age 22. The orienting principle of her work is to empower people to lead larger and more creative lives. Driven by a commitment to intuition and possibility, her experience is broad and varied: from building tiny homes and designing and manufacturing lifestyle products to incubating tech applications; there is no subject that Dez doesn’t find interesting. She founded the Possibility Room in 2009, which began as a startup incubator in Seattle focused on executing new businesses and expanding existing businesses. Dez believes that true innovation results from listening to your own unique knowing. She spends a lot of time thinking about how to cultivate containers that allow for this. She is more interested in questions than answers: What happens when we allow space for the unknown? What kind of freedom is available when we decide to be driven by values and intuition rather than convention? What is innovation, anyway?

Creativity & Innovation
Faculty & Staff Funding Opportunities
 

Creativity & Innovation offers two types of funding for faculty and staff: Creative Exploration Grants and Changemaker Collaboration Grants. Tenure-track faculty, adjunct faculty, lecturers, year-long visitors, and staff members are eligible to apply.
 
Our funding goals include:
  • Developing partnerships across divisions and disciplines that test and implement transformative practices in teaching, scholarship, outreach, and programming.
  • Integrating interdisciplinary thinking into classes and campus culture.
  • Moving theory into practice to engage faculty, staff, and/or students in applied problem-solving.
  • Exploring projects and activities that stimulate creativity and require risk-taking.
  • Developing and implementing anti-racist pedagogy and practices.
Creative Exploration Grants: Support smaller projects that allow faculty and staff members to explore a topic, process, or collaboration.
  • Individuals or teams may apply for up to $2,000 to support a project’s direct costs.
  • Grants are intended to support exploratory projects that do not presently have funding sources.
  • Projects that stimulate creativity and model productive risk-taking are encouraged.
Changemaker Collaboration Grants: Support teams of up to six to meet, dream, and plan for larger-scale projects that have the potential for transformative effects for faculty, staff, and students at Colorado College. Teams may comprise of all faculty, all staff, or a mix of both.
  • Applicant teams must comprise of at least two faculty and/or staff members representing different departments/programs. Teams of three or more members may include more than one representative from a single department or program.
  • Projects must engage students, faculty, and/or staff in applied problem-solving either within or outside of a class context.
Application deadlines for Creative Exploration and Changemaker Faculty & Staff Collaboration Grants for academic year 2021-2022:
 
Block     Application Deadline           Awards Announced     Earliest Project Start Date
   4              Nov. 29, 2021                        Dec. 10, 2021                        Jan. 3, 2022
   5              Jan. 24, 2022                        Feb. 4, 2022                          Feb. 21, 2022
   6              Feb. 21, 2022                        March 4, 2022                      March 28, 2022
   7              March 28, 2022                    April 8, 2022                         April 25, 2022
   8              April 25, 2022                       May 6, 2022                          May 23, 2022
 
 Creativity & Innovation holds regular information sessions about funding opportunities. The next session will take place at 4 p.m. January 12th, during Block J.
Join here: 
https://coloradocollege.zoom.us/my/jessicahunterlarsen  

For more information and application materials visit: 
https://www.coloradocollege.edu/offices/creativity-innovation/faculty-resources/grants-funding/index.html 

 

Questions? Contact: Jessica Hunter, Associate Director of Creativity & Innovation
jhunter@coloradocollege.edu
 

Dynamic Half-Block

Innate Mindfulness: Exploring our Inner Ecology for Thriving on a Changing Planet

   
 

Instructor: Myra L. Jackson
Sponsored by Creativity & Innovation at CC
Email:
mjackson@coloradocollege.edu

Dates: Jan. 11-21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. MT each day. Hybrid format, in person when possible, virtual attendance available.
Registration is open. 
To register: 
https://www.coloradocollege.edu/offices/careercenter/our-programs/non-credit-half-block.html

 

Course description: We all hold basic – although often unconscious – assumptions about the very nature of reality, including our relationship with what is commonly called “nature” or “the environment.” As well, we have assimilated a variety of sensorial habits or filters that affect the way we perceive the world. These assumptions – along with sensorial and cognitive habits – may influence our ability to perceive the problems we face and also limit our imagination, making it more difficult to conceive of a path toward ecological sustainability and social well-being. As Albert Einstein noted, “the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” We may need a new vision of reality, or even a new modality of consciousness – a more ecological worldview –to address our most urgent crises and to create a more just and sustainable human society. This experiential course is an introductory exploration into Mindfulness as innate within humans. Through it, students will discover the innate somatic sentient intelligence within every human that is the rudimentary basis of Mindfulness. In this workshop, exposure to one’s own sensorial doorways are utilized to open into the innate power within to explore the corresponding ecology within that connects every human to the ecosystems in which they live.
 
With Nature as a companion, students will learn strategies to skillfully work with thoughts, emotions, and sensations, while developing their capacity to enhance mind-body awareness of present-moment experience to enhance connections to self, community, and the Earth.
 
Learning Outcomes:
  • Gain insight into the current state of their innate mindfulness.
  • Appreciation for their body’s innate wisdom and inner resilience.
  • Learn ways to cultivate a practice that enables access to the benefits of concentrative focus that, once acquired, will provide enduring benefits for a lifetime.
  • Learn techniques to develop a healthy sense of self and safely explore emotions such as joy, kindness, equanimity, gratitude, and compassion for self and others while being with sadness, grief, loss, shame, pain, anger, and rage while recognizing their deep humanity.
  • Learn the power of applied mindful awareness in daily activities to improve communication with oneself, others, and Nature. 
  • Experience the link between self-care, group-care and Earth-care.

14 East Cache La Poudre St.,
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903

Copyright © 2021 Colorado College, All rights reserved.

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See You at In the Loop Next Week

ITL is Thursday, Nov. 18

ITL is Thursday, Nov. 18

Sent on behalf of the President’s Office and Staff Council:


The Block 3 In the Loop all-staff meeting is happening on Thursday, Nov. 18

Come together with staff colleagues and hear updates from campus leadership. 

Today is your LAST chance to submit good news, kudos, and questions to be answered during the question-and-answer period. You must submit your items by 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11. 

Note this year’s location for In the Loop: Meet in Celeste Theatre inside Cornerstone Arts Center; the program will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. Grab-and-go breakfast will be available for pick-up in Cornerstone Main Space as you exit the meeting. 

Those wishing to join the meeting via Zoom from their individual workspace may do so by registering in advance using this link. Feel free to swing by the main space between 9:30-10:30 a.m. to pick up breakfast. 

In the Loop is a joint venture between Colorado College leadership and the Staff Council to facilitate communication and build community spirit among the staff at Colorado College. These meetings are your chance to directly connect with college leaders and other staff members on a regular basis.

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COVID-19 Update and Reminders

Dear Campus Community,

 
We are writing with an update regarding the additional COVID-19 screening testing that was implemented in response to the cluster of infections from Halloween weekend. 

Current COVID Stats and What They Mean

The testing program is working and doing exactly what it was designed to do — help us to limit spread and return to baseline. On Tuesday, Nov. 9, the Student Health Center performed 459 tests, which yielded six positive results. The positivity rate has declined to 1.3% from 4.3% on Monday. If the current declining trend continues, we are on a very good trajectory.  
 
Meals, mail, and prescriptions are being delivered to the 81 students currently in isolation and quarantine. Students in isolation/quarantine should reach out to their professors to discuss the need for support, adaptation, or assistance with their classes.  
 
Testing
If you have already tested, thank you! All students living on campus and locally off-campus, regardless of vaccination status, are expected to participate in ongoing screening testing. If you have not yet tested since Nov. 1, please do so as soon as possible.
 
Contact Tracing
Contact tracing is a critical part of our layered mitigation system. Contact tracing data enables us to identify close contacts and prevent further transmission. We ask that you please continue to cooperate with our contact tracers. 
 
Thus far contact tracing data show no indication of COVID-19 transmission in classrooms; our layered mitigation system, including vaccination, masking, and good ventilation, is in place and working. 
 
Fully vaccinated students who were identified as close contacts should wear a mask when around others and get tested 5-7 days after the last known exposure. They can come to class so long as they have no symptoms; transmission from an asymptomatic person would be highly unlikely in that setting. 
 
Next Steps
We will share detailed Fall Break guidance with the campus community tomorrow. 
 
Thank you for continuing to follow all risk mitigation protocols and reduce your risk and the risk to others
 
We are all in this together. Please remember to take care of yourself and support one another during this stressful time. We will do our part by keeping you informed.

Sincerely,

Andrea Bruder
Chief Public Health Advisor to the President 
  
Mateo Muñoz
Chair, COVID-19 Policy and Implementation Committee 

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Introducing Antiracism Commitment Committee

President L. Song Richardson has announced the new membership of the 16-member Antiracism Commitment Committee. 


First shared in Fall 2019 and re-announced this fall, the committee will guide the work of the Antiracism Implementation Plan and support and hold each member mutually accountable in building a community that is more diverse, inclusive, and equitable. 
 
“We continue to seek opportunities to generate meaningful feedback and impact from students, staff, and faculty representing the college community, to build an academic environment that values diversity, promotes an inclusive culture, and establishes a profound sense of belonging for each member of the college,” Richardson says. “The Antiracism Commitment Committee’s efforts will be guided by the Antiracism Implementation Plan, which will evolve from input from our community.”
 
The college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion team will lead the Antiracism Commitment Committee: Rosalie Rodriguez, senior associate dean of students, diversity, equity, and inclusion, Peony Fhagen, senior associate dean of equity, inclusion, and faculty development, and Eric Lee, assistant vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion for staff.
 
Committee member Ty Nagamatsu, estate settlement and gift planning officer in the Advancement Division, says she wanted to be involved because she believes the committee “will hold each of us individually accountable for the important systemic commitments we have publicly made.”

“Lawyers like to say that the law waxes slow and exceedingly fine. Similarly, MLK told us that ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ This work will require patience, kindness, and time. As an institution, we must resist the urge to quickly check boxes to signify our completion of this work,” Nagamatsu says.

Another committee member, Luis David Garcia Puente, professor of mathematics and computer science, says CC’s Antiracist Commitment is central to its mission and its future, and that, “It is an honor and a serious responsibility to help our college succeed in this crucial endeavor.”

“A commitment of this magnitude and scope needs a body of people to oversee the work of our entire community as we enact its implementation plan,” he says. “We are not here to decide the paths to follow, but to serve our community to achieve its goals. Your input, your ideas, and concerns are fundamental in this process. Be engaged!”

The 2021-22 membership of the ACC committee is:
 

  • Advancement: Ty Nagamatsu
  • Academic: Luis David Garcia Puente and Amanda Udis-Kessler
  • Athletics: Jeff Conarroe
  • Communications: Felix Sanchez ’93
  • Enrollment Management: Pedro Ramirez
  • Finance and Administration: Amber Brannigan
  • Information Technology: Katharina Groves
  • Student Life: Rochelle Dickey ’83
  • Diversity and Equity Advisory Board, Co-Chairs: Anneke Bruwer and Neena Grover
  • Faculty Executive Committee: Nadia Guessous
  • Staff Council: Jennifer Golightly
  • CC Student Government Association: Misbah Lakhani ’24, Atquetzali Quiroz ’24, Surbhi Bhutani ’22, Jordan Fields ’24

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