July 31, 2020
As Vermont Tech welcomes back its students and employees for the fall semester, the college is making important investments in the safety of our community. One of the largest contributors to that investment is our community members themselves, as we all take responsibility for our role in caring for ourselves and those around us.
As with response to the COVID-19 coronavirus at large, Vermont Tech is focused on the pillars of mask wearing, social distancing, hand hygiene, symptom monitoring, and contact tracing to promote adherence to the State’s health and safety guidelines, as well as reduction strategies for illness spread.
The college has taken the following steps:
- Created of a central website landing page for all COVID-related announcements to make information easy to find
- Instituted of a Knights’ Pledge (accessible only with college ID), wherein all faculty, staff, and students sign their promise to take responsibility for their health and the health of others
- Developed a Student Health Contract (accessible only with college ID) with an embedded Knights’ Pledge
- Display of signage around all its campuses and sites that promote mask wearing, social distancing, and staying home if you’re experiencing symptoms
- Implemented the VOSHA-mandated screening process, including training of staff to perform screening to monitor the health of visitors and employees working on a campus or distance site and securing of buildings to manage access
- Updated the Code of Conduct to include adherence to safety protocols, substantiating the importance of these efforts with college policy
- Expanded its use of Castle Branch beyond nursing students where all students and employees can report daily self-attestation of symptoms and temperature check, providing mindfulness for self-care
- Recommended that students and employees maintain a contact tracing journal, to indicate close contacts with others each day
- Procured PPE for appropriate faculty and staff to enable their work, as well as masks for all students and employees to be distributed as needed to anyone moving into or visits campus
- Developed an Exposure Control Plan, per VOSHA guidelines
- Installed Plexiglas shielding and developed new room capacity standards based on social distancing
As protocols from the State and public health official change or expand, Vermont Tech will continue to respond with active strategies to invest in the safety of our community. There is no way to mitigate all risk, and community members must consider the potential impact on themselves and their families when deciding to participate in our educational community.
