Team,
The fall semester is almost upon us. On Monday, August 10, at 1 p.m., I will host our annual Fall Address, which will be broadcasted online. This will be a different format than years past. Unfortunately, we will not be able to celebrate the beginning of our new school year by being together with our annual gathering as we have for the past two years. But, we will have an opportunity to celebrate, from a distance, our accomplishments and look forward to the year ahead. This next year will pose many challenges, but I am confident that we will rise to meet them and stay singularly focused on serving our students.
The Bengal community has gone to extraordinary lengths to make our campuses as safe as possible. We all know that we cannot eliminate all risk of COVID-19, but if each of us does our part, we can certainly lessen that risk. We are also prepared in the case that we have to make operational adjustments to respond to the virus. The Health Committee has developed extensive public health metrics that take into account our regional and campus-level environment to help the Administrative Council determine when we may need to move between operational levels. This will be evaluated on a weekly basis starting next week. More information on the operational levels and other COVID-19 resources are available at isu.edu/roaringback.
As we all look at the semester ahead, I encourage you to use the COVID-19 hotline and email address to answer any specific questions you may have about campus operations, instruction, or any medically sensitive questions. You can either call (208) 282-2705 or email covid@health.isu.edu. Your questions will be addressed by a member of our Health Committee. We also continue to provide near-daily communication to our students so they are all prepared to return to instruction this semester.
I hope that you all have been able to enjoy the summer. I look forward to another great semester and gathering online for our annual Fall Address.
––Kevin
