Key Points

• As you plan to return to campus after July 6, please check your vaccination status in your COVID Compliance Card.

• If you have not already done so, report your vaccination. 

• Individuals who are not yet fully vaccinated must complete additional health and safety requirements.

• The campus has a number of measures in place to ensure safety as we continue to document and verify vaccination rates.

Dear Colleagues,

Beginning July 6, 2021, all faculty and staff will be approved to access campus. We expect this to be a gradual return, with all offices open and fully operational by August 9, 2021. We are eager to begin welcoming you back to the physical campus, and want to share some important safety information.

Vaccinations

As you know, the University System of Maryland and UMBC are requiring students, faculty, and staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of the fall semester. Based on anonymous information from the state health information exchange, we know that more than 80 percent of our faculty and staff are at least partially vaccinated. It will take more time to document compliance with the vaccination mandate by the beginning of the fall semester. If you have not already done so, please report your vaccination today. We are grateful to those who have already submitted their information. We know that the process to review and approve your verification may take some time as we deal with a large volume of inquiries, and we appreciate your patience.

During this transitional period, there will be individuals on campus who are not vaccinated, either because they have an approved medical or religious exemption, or because they have not yet completed and documented their vaccine. We ask that you respect the privacy of your colleagues and not ask about their vaccination status. All such individuals are expected to comply with specific health and safety requirements, which are described below.

Please know that we have consulted with our public health experts and established safety measures to keep us safe during this period. In addition, research indicates that the high vaccination rate we currently have and the low COVID-19 positivity rate locally make the risk of transmission on our campus minimal at this time. 

Testing and Tracking

For fully vaccinated and verified faculty/staff: All who are fully vaccinated and whose vaccine has been reported and verified will no longer be required to test or symptom track. You will receive an email with additional information on your status and other requirements. You can also check your COVID Compliance Card in your myUMBC profile. If for any reason your vaccination is not complete or verified, you must follow the instructions below.  

For faculty/staff not yet fully vaccinated or verified or who have an approved exemption:If for any reason, your vaccination is not complete or verified, or if you have an approved exemption, you must complete daily symptom monitoring beginning July 6. When you start coming to campus, you must also complete weekly testing. You will receive a personal email with additional information on your status and requirements. You can also check your COVID Compliance Card in your myUMBC profile for your status and requirements. 

Mask Wearing and Physical Distancing

Everyone returning to campus must comply with safe on-campus behavior. At this time, our safety protocols include indoor masking and maintaining physical distancing of three feet or more. Indoor meetings or gatherings in rooms where distancing is not possible are discouraged. Masks should be worn in shared offices but do not need to be worn in private offices with closed doors. Masks are not required outdoors unless you are participating in an activity or event that requires them. 

Please keep in mind that respecting the personal choice to wear a mask will remain a part of our safety strategy for the foreseeable future. Community members may choose to wear a mask for a variety of reasons, including to keep themselves and their family members as safe as possible, because they are unable to be vaccinated, or if they have compromised immunity. When working with others, please ask if they would be more comfortable if you wear a mask and avoid making assumptions about why a community member may choose to be masked. 

Case Response

Any community member who is visiting campus and tests positive for COVID-19 should continue to report their case. Our contact response team responds to individual reports and positive cases identified in campus testing. They provide resources to affected individuals, assist with notifying close contacts, and monitor prevalence in our community. Due to all of our safety efforts and the hard work of community members, we have not had a new case in several weeks, and we are seeing no evidence of community spread.

Thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe. Please continue to share questions and feedback with us at covid19@umbc.edu.

Provost Philip Rous

Vice President for Administration and Finance Lynne Schaefer

COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs

Tonight the GlobalProtect VPN will be upgraded to the latest version. Users will not experience a disruption in service but may receive a prompt to upgrade to the new version the next time they log in. 

Performing regular software updates on the VPN is an important step for keeping up to date with security fixes, bug repairs and compatibility with the newest operating systems. During the update, users will not experience a loss in service and will continue to work uninterrupted. However, users will receive a message that a newer version of the VPN software is available on their next login. This message is expected and we ask that you follow the prompts to download and install the new version of VPN software. 

If you experience any challenges installing the new software, please contact the Technology Support Center. 

Ray Soellner

Assoc. Director - DoIT

rays1@umbc.edu

Dear Community, 

With dangerously high temperatures predicted this week, we want to share some basic information on heat safety. If you are participating in outdoor activities either on or off campus, please consider making adjustments to keep all of your community members safe. 

Temperatures are projected to be in the high nineties today and will feel warmer, possibly over 100 degrees. The National Weather Service provides a variety of resources on heat stroke and heat exhaustion. This Heat Safety worksheet also provides information and tips.

Heat is one of the leading weather-related killers in the United States, resulting in hundreds of fatalities each year. Heat-related illnesses can occur with even a short period of exposure. Please keep in mind:

• Young children and infants are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illness and death.

• It is never safe to leave a child, disabled person, or pet locked in a car. Do not allow children to play in cars where they could accidentally lock themselves inside. To learn how to prevent hot car deaths, see the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration webpage on heatstroke.

• Adults with pre-existing diseases, using certain medications, living alone, or with limited mobility who are exposed to extreme heat can experience multiple adverse effects.

• People with chronic medical conditions are more likely to have a serious health problem during a heat wave than healthy people. Pregnant women are also at higher risk.  

• Avoid strenuous exercise or work outdoors, avoid direct sunlight as much as possible, stay hydrated, and take regular breaks.

Please be safe and beat the heat. 

Paul Dillon, Chief of Police

Bruce Herman, Director, Health & Counseling

Michael Pound, Director, Environmental Safety & Health

As we continue summer sessions at UMBC and plan for the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year, we would like to both acknowledge our library colleagues who have worked nonstop since the library building was closed in March 2020, and sincerely thank them for their service to our campus community. Their efforts supported the continued teaching, learning, and research during this difficult time and they did an amazing job.

We look forward to welcoming our users back into the building this coming fall!

Thank you!

Library Executive Council

Phone system prioritization and timelines

As UMBC continues remote and hybrid work for the Summer and Fall, we wanted to provide an update about the status and priorities of the campus phone system replacement project. Our legacy phone system is over 30 years old, and cannot be maintained going forward. To date we have moved over 900 users to the new system to help ensure that there is no disruption to communications as we approach the fall semester. 

During the summer, DoIT will be prioritizing the transition of department numbers over to the new phone system. We would like to work closely with all departments, including those who have already transitioned, to make sure they are prepared for the return to campus. To help avoid confusion, we are proactively removing the old desk phones once people have transitioned to the new system since those older physical phones are not compatible with the new system. If people need wired or wireless headsets, a physical office phone, or have any outstanding questions around the phone system or Webex software please let us know.

As the Fall semester progresses we will shift our focus primarily to remaining individual staff numbers that have not already been migrated. 

New phone system overview

Transitioning to the new phone system offers many new features and advantages besides increased reliability. A key feature during this time of remote work and telework is the ability for your computer at home or office to make and receive calls using your campus extension. This “softphone” is enabled by using the Webex app, formerly Webex Teams, which can be installed on any computer or mobile device. UMBC has adopted this softphone approach as the recommended configuration and will be providing wired and wireless headsets to the community at no departmental cost. Headsets can be picked up at Engineering 020. Please see the links below for more information on these units. 

• Logitech H390

• Logitech H600

If there are locations or users that would benefit from a physical desk phone instead of this model, we can work with your department to help evaluate your needs and make sure we are installing the right kind of devices to best support you. 

We appreciate your support in helping us complete this very important project. 

Ray Soellner

Associate Director - DoIT

UMBC

rays1@umbc.edu