The Governor has determined courses in the Applied Sciences (Silversmithing, Wind Energy, Farrier, . . .etc.) are able to hold in-person courses while following CDC guidelines. The State Reopening Guidance states, ” Colleges and universities will be deploying online and remote learning across their campuses this fall except for clinicals, practicum or field-based experiences for critical workforce areas, such as healthcare, and vocational education.”
Beginning August third, staff will be available in the office from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday – Thursday to handle enrollment over the phone. “we will
operate at reduced levels of staffing on campus to continue to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will operate at between 25% and 50% of capacity at the beginning of the fall semester (Reopening Plan, p.7).”
Faculty is to be available for work August 10th. Faculty and Staff are encouraged to work remotely, if possible. “For those who can work productively and effectively via telework will be allowed to do so, unless a critical need exists for their presence to be on campus. For those employees at risk for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC guidelines, they will continue to work from home if their job duties allow. Mesalands realizes the importance of employee privacy regarding medical information (Reopening Plan, p.7).”
The Fitness Facility will continue to be closed. The campus is closed to the public until courses begin August 17th and will be limited to those students who are attending Applied Science (Vocational) courses.
To all employees on campus, a single entry (Main entrance at Building A) will be utilized for entry to campus. A process for entry can be found in the College’s Reopen document on pages 8 and 9.
Mesalands administration and designated staff are closely monitoring reports on the status of COVID-19 from the New Mexico Department of Health, as well as other reporting received from the New Mexico Higher Education Department. It is all of our duty to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 on campus, in the community, and in our state.
Please review the Reopening document and my.mesalands.edu regarding plans and procedures regarding COVID-19. These procedures are subject to change based on COVID-19 positive cases on campus and the local hospital load exceeding 85%.