The university has adopted a Return-to-Campus and Travel Policy that establishes rules for university employees as they return to campus.
All employees should take precautions
First and foremost, if you are sick, you should not come to campus. We have a variety of leave options, including emergency paid leave, available. You can also work from home if your supervisor approves it.
You should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or with hand sanitizer. Maintain at least six feet of distance from others. Cover your coughs and sneezes.
Keeping the campus community safer
Employees may not come to campus if they have experienced any of the following:
- Have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 14 days
- Have had close contact within the last 14 days with a known COVID-19 positive person
- Have had any of the following symptoms of COVID-19 within the last 14 days that is unexplained: fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell
Such employees may not return to campus unless and until they have tested negative for COVID-19 or received permission to return to campus from their health care provider.
Employees also may not return to campus within 14 days of international travel unless they have tested negative for COVID-19 or received permission from their health care provider. The test must be given more than two days after returning to the United States.
Testing is available at Magers Health and Wellness Center and through other health care providers in the community.
Wearing masks
Masks or face coverings are generally not required to be worn on campus. However, masks must be worn in specified, higher risk areas on campus. Such areas will be clearly designated with signs indicating that a mask is required.
Employees are free to wear masks on campus. Masks are available for employees at the university’s emergency preparedness office, located at 636 E. Elm St. Masks will also be distributed through cost centers. Employees are free to use their own masks or face coverings as well.
If an individual has a medical condition or concern that they believe prevents them from wearing a mask or other face covering, they may request an accommodation consistent with university policy. For more information, please refer to the University’s Employee Disability Accommodations Policy and Procedure or contact Julia Holmes, deputy compliance officer, at JuliaHolmes@MissouriState.edu.
We will re-evaluate the mask and face coverings policy before SOAR starts in July.
Easing travel restrictions
The travel restrictions the university adopted in March will expire at the end of June.
Effective July 1, restrictions on university travel in the state of Missouri will be lifted. The same travel policies and processes that existed before the pandemic will resume for such travel.
Cost center heads must establish an approval process for university travel outside the state of Missouri. The provost will establish the approval process to be followed by all academic cost centers. Such processes will provide an opportunity for cost centers to review the expense and health and safety risks associated with a trip or out-of-state event.
Additionally, international travelers should be aware of the requirement set forth above that they test negative for COVID-19 before returning to campus.
Additional precautions
We continue to work on other precautions that will be taken as we approach the beginning of SOAR in July and the beginning of the fall semester in August.
- We are developing plans to install plexiglass shields and hand sanitizer stations throughout campus.
- We are also updating space management and cleaning plans for the summer and fall to mitigate spread of the coronavirus.
- We are developing COVID-19 testing and contact tracing protocols for the fall and spring semesters.
All events for the month of June have been canceled. We will be working in the next two weeks to establish an evaluation process for managing events in July. This process will require that events comply with federal, state and local restrictions as well as restrictions established by the university.
Attend the Virtual Town Hall
Universities everywhere are facing serious financial challenges. Two public universities in Missouri have declared financial exigency. The University of Missouri has announced 579 furloughs, 569 salary reductions, 217 voluntary salary reductions and 49 layoffs.
This will be a challenging year, but we are working to avoid this level of drastic cuts at Missouri State.
We discussed our financial situation with the Board of Governors last week, and we will be developing the FY2021 budget in the coming weeks. We would like your feedback as we do this work.
At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, we will host a Virtual Town Hall meeting. Please come prepared to ask questions and provide feedback about the FY2021 budget, our return-to-campus rules and our plans for the fall semester.
Thanks for all you do for Missouri State!
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