Noelle Cockett, USU President, issued a statement on the ban of university events, including events at USU Eastern. The statement read as follows:
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff Members,
I’m writing to update you on Utah State University’s actions to prevent COVID-19 from appearing and spreading in our campus communities throughout the state. Information about USU’s approach to preventing the disease on our campuses is at www.usu.edu/covid-19.
With COVID-19 establishing a foothold in so many countries and beginning to spread in the United States, we are in an unprecedented public heath situation. This situation calls for unprecedented actions.
USU’s primary objective is to protect the health and safety of our campus communities throughout the state. With this in mind, the USU COVID-19 Task Force is focused on protecting the university’s core mission of education and research by preventing the spread of COVID-19. This means keeping classes running.
Events
All university events and events on campus beginning March 12, 2020, must be cancelled or postponed through April 8, 2020. Visit https://dps.usu.edu/emergency/covid-19/events to learn more.
- For events occurring today, March 11, please follow best practices to prevent the spread of disease, and anyone ill should stay home to rest, recover, and stop the spread of germs.
Travel
All university-related travel beginning March 12, 2020, whether domestic or international, must be cancelled through April 8, 2020. Visit https://dps.usu.edu/emergency/covid-19/travel to learn more.
Prevention
I want to also remind all community members to follow best practices to prevent the spread of disease and to stay home if you are sick, even if your symptoms are mild. We have asked faculty to not require doctor notes for those who need to be excused from class or those returning to class in order to preserve our health care workers to respond to the public health situation. More information will go out to both supervisors and faculty later today.
USU is considering transitioning to online course delivery if necessary. Faculty should create contingency plans to teach their classes remotely in the event that USU must move online. These actions are in line with our infectious disease plan.
This is a stressful time for our community, and I know you have a lot of questions. Please know that our officials are meeting continually to come up with answers and find solutions to problems you are experiencing and to ensure our campus is ready for what comes next. We are also making continuous updates to USU’s clearinghouse for information about COVID-19 at www.usu.edu/covid-19.
We believe it is best to cancel events and travel rather than to cancel classes. I encourage you to continue to support each other and those who may become ill within the Utah State family.
Sincerely,
Noelle E. Cockett