{"id":2017,"date":"2020-09-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/blogtest\/sept-4-lets-continue-to-be-safe\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T20:22:39","slug":"sept-4-lets-continue-to-be-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/sept-4-lets-continue-to-be-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"SEPT. 4: Let&#8217;s continue to be safe!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">To the University community,<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">Prior to the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, on Aug. 21, I issued a campus-wide moratorium on extracurricular activities. I felt strongly that, due to the potential presence of the COVID virus among our students, it was important that we move carefully in our return to campus.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">This two-week moratorium period allowed us to carefully monitor campus and county infection rates, the need for student isolation and quarantine, and the level of campus compliance in the wearing of masks and following social distancing precautions. During this monitoring period we have learned two things.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<ul class=\"bi6gxh9e aov4n071 fjf4s8hc mf5omzu7\">\n<li>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">First, social distancing and mask-wearing works! And our students, for the most part, are taking these precautions seriously.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">Second, we have also learned how important it is for students to report symptoms to our MTSU Student Health clinic, and to work with our medical staff for testing, contact tracing, and isolation\/quarantine, as needed.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">When all members of our campus community take seriously their responsibilities to keep each other safe, we are best positioned to keep the coronavirus from sweeping through the campus unchecked \u2014 which would require us to discontinue all on-campus classes and move to an entirely remote learning environment.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">At the same time, it is well established that activities that promote student social interaction and provide a chance to practice leadership, planning, and organizational skills are an important part of the college experience. So how can we keep the campus as safe and healthy as possible and also permit students to engage in some of the campus interactions we value?<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">The answer is simple. We must continue to require that everyone wear their masks and maintain social distancing. It&#8217;s also vital that students work closely with MTSU Student Health in addressing symptoms, getting tested as needed, responding to their phone calls related to contact tracing and complying with all isolation and quarantine requirements.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">From Tuesday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Sept. 27, I will allow student organization meetings and activities of fewer than 50 participants. Campus space reservations will be permitted for student extracurricular activities as long as no more than 50 participants are in attendance \u2013 and all social distancing and masking requirements are strictly observed.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">If we can continue to successfully follow these guidelines, I will be able to further reduce the current restrictions imposed on student activities.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">We will monitor adherence to requirements continuously and, if necessary, reverse course and prohibit campus activities. However I hope I won\u2019t have to take this action. We will especially watch for any spike emanating from the Labor Day weekend.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">We appreciate your patience and commitment to helping to keep your fellow students, faculty and staff safe and healthy. We are hopeful that we will succeed in being able to keep the campus open and operational, but our ability to do so depends on our mutual efforts.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">Sincerely,<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">Sidney A. McPhee<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">President<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"bi6gxh9e\"><a href=\"mailto:Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"oi732d6d ik7dh3pa d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql jq4qci2q a3bd9o3v knj5qynh oo9gr5id\">Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To the University community, \u00a0 Prior to the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester, on Aug. 21, I issued a campus-wide moratorium on extracurricular activities. I felt strongly that, due to the potential presence of the COVID virus among our students, it was important that we move carefully in our return to campus. \u00a0 This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":418,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3152,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions\/3152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}