Information for Faculty and Staff
Oglethorpe is operating in the orange phase of its Campus Protection Guide in Spring 2021. Campus will be open only to on-campus residents, commuter students attending classes on campus, and authorized personnel. These individuals are known as Petrels Authorized for Campus Access (PACAs).
Employee Access to Campus
Faculty and staff who are able to perform their duties remotely should continue to do so, to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on campus. Campus will only be open to those whose duties require access to campus. Faculty and staff authorized to work on campus are expected to update their Petrel Pass prior to the beginning of the semester. For questions regarding your Petrel Pass, please email petrelpass@oglethorpe.edu.
Faculty and staff returning to campus will be expected to observe the “Petrel Pause” from January 25 – February 22. During this time, you should refrain from participating in social gatherings and other high-risk activities, and strictly limit yourself to essential travel. This period accounts for the two weeks prior to the semester and the first two weeks of the semester. This period of enhanced social distancing is critical in reducing the risk of spread of COVID-19 among the campus community, as the beginning of the semester will be the highest risk period for uncontained spread. Faculty and staff working on campus will be tested for COVID-19 upon arriving to campus and will be tested on a reoccurring basis.
Faculty and staff will also be expected have received a flu vaccination prior to returning to campus and be required to participate in a daily self-health screening through the LifeguardRx mobile app. Details on registering and enrolling in LifeguardRx will be emailed.
Faculty FAQs
It is expected that face-to-face, hybrid, and remote delivery will be employed for the Spring 2021 semester. Face-to-face courses are scheduled to have an in-person component for 100% of their meetings. Hybrid courses will employ a delivery that mixes in-person meetings with remote meetings, while remote delivery will meet virtually for 100% of their course meetings.
Very little. Students can see the modality of your course offering in OASIS, but they still have lots of questions! All instructors should plan to send a communication directly to their rosters as soon as possible with information about your planned course structure and expectations. In your message, you should include details about how students that cannot attend in-person sessions should expect to receive course materials. Similarly, you should detail your attendance policies and expectations.
We have worked closely with our colleagues in Facilities/Operations to minimize the risk of exposure for students attending an in-person component of a class. Classroom furniture should not be relocated. In addition to being physically distanced, acrylic barriers have also been added in some classrooms to enhance the protection of students. There should also be designated seating for residential students and commuter students in your room. The combination of these things is carefully thought out to help minimize the virus threat to students within the classroom environment.
While we advocate for flexibility, it is within your discretion to craft camera policies for your remote class. It is important to remember that students do not have to have a camera to participate in remote learning, although it is highly recommended. The cost of equipment can be prohibitive for some students, and many of our students (as well as our faculty) may have bandwidth issues with their connectivity that make turning on a camera almost impossible. If you are struggling with methods of engagement in your virtual class that don’t involve a camera, please don’t hesitate to contact our Instructional Technology Librarian Karen Viars at kviars@oglethorpe.edu.
No. Faculty who are not actively teaching on campus this semester cannot access campus unless authorized by the Provost. There is a protocol, however, for faculty to pick up materials such as library books, mail, or equipment. Again, please contact the Provost to facilitate this process.
If a student must quarantine or enter isolation, they will be instructed by the Case Managers to contact their instructors as soon as possible. Instructors can verify this information with Case Managers at healthinfo@oglethorpe.edu. Much like we want students to communicate to you, we encourage all instructors to devise policies and expectations that outline isolation/quarantine procedures for their courses and clearly communicate these to students in the course syllabus.
No. Despite students knowing delivery modality when registering, you may still have a student who registered for your class and is unable to physically attend classes face-to-face. In this case, you will need to accommodate that student by making class material available to them.
Yes. While we hope to be able to contain the virus on campus through the policies outlined in our COVID-19 Handbook, we may be forced to shift back to remote delivery based on the criteria established in our Campus Protection Guide. As a general guideline, be prepared to switch to remote delivery at any point in the semester.
Contact your case manager, Eli Arnold, at earnold@oglethorpe.edu immediately. You will then follow CDC and COVID-19 Handbook guidelines to isolate for the appropriate period based on your case. As a general guideline, be prepared to switch to remote delivery at any point in the semester.
Contact your case manager, Eli Arnold, at earnold@oglethorpe.edu immediately. You will then follow CDC and COVID-19 Handbook guidelines to quarantine for the appropriate period based on your case. As a general guideline, be prepared to switch to remote delivery at any point in the semester.
No. We anticipate students needing to quarantine or isolate due to various reasons (positive tests, contact tracing, being a caretaker) therefore we still must give students the option to attend in person or remotely regardless of your class’s face-to-face or hybrid delivery.
Not necessarily. It is up to your discretion as to how you provide class information and material to absent students. If, however, a student will be absent for an extended period of time due to quarantine, isolation, or caretaking responsibility, then you will need to make your in-class material available to that student. Again, it is up to your discretion how you do that.
In rare cases, you may have a student who is enrolled in your face-to-face or hybrid class that is unable to attend physically in-person. In this case, you must make your in-class material available to that student synchronously via Zoom or asynchronously via recording.
Yes, all on-campus personnel will be expected to observe the Petrel Pause from January 25 – February 22. During this time, you should refrain from participating in social gatherings and other high-risk activities, and strictly limit yourself to essential travel. This does not apply to those teaching remotely and not accessing campus.
Yes, all on-campus personnel must participate daily in the LifeguardRx app and must submit to the testing protocols outlined in the COVID-19 Handbook. This does not apply to those teaching remotely and not accessing campus.
Class spaces will be dispersed across campus to reduce in-person contact. Similarly, classroom furniture will be socially distanced. Please do not rearrange furniture. Sanitization supplies will be available in all classrooms as well as disposable masks. Please unlock your classroom door at the beginning of class and please lock your classroom door again at the end of class to control access to classrooms. Facilities personnel will disinfect each classroom after use. You must verify that all students entering the class are wearing a face covering. If they are not, please provide them with a disposable mask. Faculty must also verify that students are cleared to enter class per their LifeguardRx app. If a student is not in compliance with either the face covering or LifeguardRx app guidelines, they are not permitted to enter the classroom.
An instructor also reserves the right to exclude students from class and mark them un-excused if they are non-compliant with LifeguardRx or if they fail to adhere to face covering, physical distance, or other applicable policies in the Handbook. Instructors may institute zero-tolerance policies for violations. There will be a box of disposable masks located at the instructor station for distribution as needed for any students that show-up without a mask. The boxes of disposable masks will be checked and replenished as part of the regular cleaning protocols by the custodial staff.
The classroom assignments have been carefully coordinated with our Facilities/Operations staff to make sure there is sufficient time between class offerings to clean classrooms when possible. All in-person classroom facilities will be cleaned between sessions. This will include disinfection of all high touch surface areas, teaching lecterns, whiteboards, and all seating surfaces. There will also be a box of sanitizing wipes located at each instructor station. These wipes will be checked daily and stocked as needed by our custodial staff. You may use these materials to clean your teaching space for an extra layer of protection.
Yes. All buildings where in-person classes are scheduled to be held will have increased cleaning/disinfecting schedules in restrooms, corridors, and high touch surfaces associated with those spaces.
No – at least not in your office. We suggest that you hold all office hour meetings virtually, or if you must meet with a student in-person you have that meeting outside and maintain appropriate social distance.
Yes and no. If you are alone with the door shut, you can take your face covering off while working in your office. If you have anyone in your office or your door open, you must wear a face covering and maintain physical distancing.
Yes. By teaching on campus, you are agreeing to uphold our community guidelines both on and off-campus. While off-campus, you cannot participate in indoor gatherings of 10 or more people, dine in any indoor restaurant or bar, or enter gyms, fitness centers, or group exercise classes without mandatory mask policies.
While we suggest limiting travel to essential purposes, you can travel freely so long as you are abiding by the off-campus expectations in the COVID-19 Handbook.
Yes. Individuals who fail to uphold community guidelines may be subject to disciplinary action and may be excluded from campus as appropriate.