Re: Masking policies

Dear Colleagues,

the discussions on this forum provided a lot of thoughts for me. I would like to share the following information with you.

My department (Biology) had a (zoom) meeting today to discuss the current covid situation and how to keep everybody safe on campus for the fall semester. After a detailed discussion, we adopted the following policy (see below).

Maybe this is a starting point for practical measures to safely get back to campus.

Best regards,

Harald

On Aug 12, 2021, at 3:31 PM, Chair of Biological Sciences <biscchr@sfu.ca> wrote:

Dear all,

The start of the new academic year is nearly upon us. As much as we were all hoping that the pandemic would be behind us by fall, this will evidently not be the case. In line with provincial public health advice, the current University policy calls for a return to ‘normal’ in September, that is no mask, no physical distancing, and normal occupancy of classrooms and labs. However, the contagiousness of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the upwards trajectory of new cases in BC, and the still low vaccination rates among young adults make protective measures essential to keep students, staff , faculty, and their friends and family safe.

Effective immediately, the Department of Biological Sciences is adopting a mandatory mask policy for all areas under Biology’s control and in spaces elsewhere where Biology faculty teach, applying to everyone regardless of vaccination status.

This means that masks will be required to attend all face-to-face Biology lectures and labs in the Fall semester. During this period, masks will not be mandatory in single-occupancy offices.

Moreover, Biology faculty, staff, graduate students and PDFs are advised of their right to refuse access to their offices and labs to anyone who is not fully vaccinated. Alternative means of meeting (e.g., via Zoom) will be provided to those who cannot be/are not yet vaccinated. Note that in individual faculty or staff office or lab, the decision to require masks will remain that of the individual faculty or staff.

It will fall on everyone of us to insist that people on Biology premises and in Biology classes and labs wear a mask. This is about keeping all of us safe.

If you can but haven’t done so yet, please get vaccinated.

Dr Isabelle M. Côté

she/elle/ella

Professor and Chair | Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University | Shrum Science Center B8234
8888 University Dr., Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
Direct: 778.782.3705 | Secretary: 778.782.3535

http://tmel.wordpress.com/