editorial staff

September 17, 2020: Public Health Update

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To our Wesleyan community,

Greetings. As we all settle into the routine of the fall semester, however unusual it may be, I would like to address a topic that affects us all: stress. Faculty, staff, and students alike, whether studying or working on-campus or remotely, are feeling the mental fatigue that accompanies this ongoing pandemic. Whether it is concern about our own health, the health of friends and family, or just coping with all the changes and inconveniences to daily life, we are all feeling it.

September 14, 2020: Public Health Reminder

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Dear Colleagues,

As we reach the conclusion of our first week of in-person classes, we want to thank you for your continued creativity, perseverance and flexibility.  We are routinely posting the results of our campus COVID testing on this dashboard and are optimistic that the current positivity rates on campus are very low.  Those on campus have undoubtedly noticed that students are taking the safety precautions that we have outlined for them seriously.  There have been some minor issues that we (or students themselves) have addressed, and we expect to maintain a high degree of compliance as the semester continues.

September 6, 2020: Campus Life After Quarantine

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To Our Wesleyan Community, 

As we close out two weeks of a campus-wide quarantine and look ahead to our first week of in-person classes, I want to thank everyone for your patience, perseverance, and continued efforts toward the safety and well-being of our shared campus community. Thanks to everyone doing their part in following and enforcing quarantine protocols, we have been able to maintain COVID positivity rates well below the levels predicted by modeling and can now move forward with the next phase of campus life post-quarantine.   

September 4, 2020: Public Health Update

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Date: September 4, 2020 Subject: Public Health Update From: Tom McLarney, MD To Our Wesleyan Community: Happy Friday and congratulations on nearly making it to the end of the campus-wide quarantine! Despite this unusual and challenging start to the semester, I have noticed students appearing upbeat and happy to be back on campus. I have … Read more

September 1, 2020: COVID-19 Bystander Intervention

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To the Wesleyan community,

Johanna DeBari, director of the Office of Support, Healing, Activism and Prevention Education (SHAPE), and Seirra Fowler, director of health education, recently hosted a webinar on COVID-19 Bystander Intervention. The forum provided useful tips to empower members of the campus community to positively influence the outcome of a potential violation of the Code of Conduct and the Community Agreement.  A recording of that virtual session is available on the Reactivating Campus web page. 

August 31, 2020: Positive Student COVID-19 Test Result

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To the Wesleyan community:

We have finished our first week of testing, and as classes begin and we’ve completed a few thousand tests, we can report that two students have tested positive for COVID-19. Two employees have also tested positive. Though unfortunate, this is an occurrence we were well prepared for. The employees are taking the appropriate precautions, and the students, in the care of Health Services, are resting comfortably in supportive isolation.We have also initiated contact tracing, and close contacts have been notified for appropriate quarantine.

August 28, 2020: Public Health Update

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To Our Wesleyan Community,

The fall semester has arrived. It is wonderful to see students, faculty, and staff on campus. Health Services has been busy at the testing tent on Andrus Field this week assisting as members of the campus community take their COVID-19 tests. So far everything is going smoothly, and we thank everyone for their cooperation and patience as we all get accustomed to this process.

To date, we have received results for 1,875 tests, with only one positive test result for an employee, who was immediately isolated. To remain informed about our testing results and procedures, visit Wesleyan’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which will be updated regularly. On the dashboard, you will find an alert level for the University, which provides context for the situation on campus, as well as a tally of active cases, cumulative results to date, and test results by week for all students and employees who are tested on campus.

We are also aware of several students who received positive COVID test results when they took a test prior to leaving home. These students have delayed their arrival to campus until they are medically cleared, and Health Services will remain in touch with these students to track their recovery.

August 24, 2020: COVID-19 Testing and Next Steps for Faculty and Staff

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Dear colleagues,

I am writing with information about the University’s plans for COVID-19 testing. 

Students, faculty, and staff will schedule their tests for COVID-19 at covidtesting.wesleyan.edu or within their WesPortal in the COVID-19 Resources bucket. Users can select a preferred date and time for testing; once a test has been booked, the user will receive an email confirming the upcoming appointment.

Wesleyan, along with more than 50 other colleges and universities, had planned to use software developed by CoVerified to assist with scheduling tests, delivering results, and more. This software is not yet ready to be used. Wesleyan will deploy CoVerified if and when we are confident that it will meet the expectations of our students, faculty, and staff.

August 24, 2020: Video Message About Reactivating Campus

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Dear campus community,

We are beginning to welcome new and returning students to campus—an event I am both excited for and nervous about. Our abiding concern is for health and safety as we enter this unprecedented semester, and it is critically important that we all do our part to keep one another safe.

Please take a moment to watch this short video, on our Reactivating Campus website, that reiterates some of our safety measures. I also encourage you to review the Code of Conduct for students, and the Community Agreement for employees. Each details the University’s policies and expectations for members of the Wesleyan community that must be adhered to as conditions of being on campus.

August 20, 2020: COVID-19 Testing and Next Steps

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Dear students,
I am writing with information about your return to campus and the University’s plans for COVID-19 testing. 

Students, faculty, and staff will schedule their tests for COVID-19 at covidtesting.wesleyan.edu or within their WesPortal in the COVID-19 Resources bucket. Users can select a preferred date and time for testing and once a test has been booked, the user will receive an email confirming the upcoming appointment.

Wesleyan, along with more than 50 other colleges and universities, had planned to use software developed by CoVerified to assist with scheduling tests, delivering results, and more. This software is not yet ready to be used. Wesleyan will deploy CoVerified if and when we are confident that it will meet the expectations of our students, faculty, and staff.