chancellor-from
July 20, 2021

Dear UAF faculty and staff,

In my June 29 COVID message, I outlined UAF’s approach to vaccination and return to work. We continue to monitor evolving CDC guidance, local conditions, transmission rates, vaccination rates, and our capacity to manage potential cases on campus and in the community. We are cognizant of the periodicity of this virus and the current uptick in the nation, including Alaska. We continue to evaluate the possible need for a vaccine requirement for some jobs and some populations on campus but at this point do not have a vaccination mandate.

We continue to monitor the evolution of the spread of virus and will adjust our response as needed. I do want to note that I recently met with the faculty senate COVID-19 committee and received helpful feedback and recommendations. These recommendations are being reviewed by UAF’s COVID operations support team.

In my May 18 COVID communication I asked all employees to work with their supervisors to transition back to in-person work or receive approval for remote work. Many started that transition over the summer and it is great to see so many people around campus. Pending any change in the interim, starting August 2 all UAF buildings will resume normal hours. Please work with your supervisor on your return to work plan and if you are unable to return to your workspace by August 2, complete the telework agreement. This form is being revised to better reflect the changes in the workplace over the last year and will be updated in early fall. While we await improvements to this form, please work with your supervisor using this agreement. If you have any questions about these transitions for you or your staff, please contact your supervisor and UA Human Resources at ua-hr@alaska.edu or call 907-450-8200.

As we begin to phase back to on campus work, we are also updating our events policy, with COVID-19 safety protocols and mitigations in place. As I have noted earlier, there may be activities that can only accommodate vaccinated individuals.The events policy aligns with our plans for in-person learning in the fall.

We have been working with the Fairbanks Public Health Center to host vaccination clinics on campus and have developed a prospective plan for providing vaccination clinics on campus no later than August 18, the day when our students move back into the residence halls. From there, our plan is to provide clinics no less than every two weeks through October, pending clinic staffing availability.

In addition, via our Keep Nanook Nation Healthy campaign, we will be conducting a vaccination attestation drive with regular drawings for prizes (parking passes, Munch Money, etc) for those willing to attest that they have been vaccinated.

Finally, if you have COVID-19 symptoms, have tested positive for COVID 19 or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19, please be sure to use one of the following forms to report: Student COVID-19 reporting form, Employee and contractor COVID-19 reporting form. And as always, our on-site operations plan prohibits COVID-19 positive individuals from accessing campus except those who are residential and are in one of our isolation dorms.

Thank you for your dedication to UAF and ensuring our campus continues to operate safely.

Thanks for choosing UAF.

— Dan White, chancellor
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