Posted March 17, 2020 (Updated March 27, 2020)
Limited Building Access, Adjusted Services, Increased Social Distance Measures, and Employee Information
On Sunday, March 15, the CDC recommended the elimination of all special events involving 50 or more people for the next eight weeks. On Monday March 16, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf strongly urged non-essential businesses across the state to close for at least 14 days to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The College is committed to supporting this effort through social distancing and by moving to a remote work environment as much as possible. By Thursday evening, the College is requesting that only faculty and staff who have been approved to remain on campus by the division head are able to do so. Therefore the College is:
- Limiting access to buildings and encouraging faculty, students and staff not to gather in groups.
- Requesting that after Wednesday March 18, faculty students and staff do not visit offices, laboratories, computer labs or classrooms without permission from their department head through April 5.
- Transitioning Skillman Library to only online services beginning Thursday, March 19.
- Continuing to provide dining services to students on campus but starting on Thursday, March 19, food will only be available in Upper Farinon as grab and go from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Canceling all scheduled events on campus through May 6. (Note: All in-person College-sponsored campus and regional events have been cancelled through May 31. For more information, see the campus events policy.)
- Instructing essential employees who have been asked to continue to work on campus to stay home if they are sick or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. They will be paid, and their allotted sick time will not be charged. Additionally, essential employees who experience significant childcare challenges between now and April 5 should advise their supervisor of this and discuss their circumstances and availability. With their supervisor’s approval, for the period between now and April 5, 2020, they will not be charged vacation or sick time for this purpose. As circumstances continue to evolve, we will revisit this issue.