Health Message For Campus Community

Dominican President Mary B. Marcy issued the following statement on Monday, March 16:

Dear Dominican Campus Community: 

Based on today’s directive from the public health officers of the Bay Area, Dominican will be delivering all courses and conducting all work online. The directive is effective at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, and is expected to last until April 7. 

Online course delivery will commence as planned on Monday, March 23. Remote work for all non-essential personnel will begin tomorrow. 

Faculty and Staff

This afternoon please gather any materials necessary to work from home or deliver courses from home. All non-essential portions of our physical campus will be closed for the duration of the shelter in place order. This means you will not have access to your office until the order has been lifted. Only essential personnel will be permitted to return to campus after today. We will notify those individuals who have been designated as essential personnel once we have more information from the public health agency about the scope of their directive. Please do not return to campus unless you have been notified to do so.

Residence Halls

Residence halls will remain open for those students who need our campus as a space to shelter in place. These students will receive pre-made take-out meals from the dining hall. Any students staying on campus must check in with their RA this afternoon, and as soon as possible. Students who wish to leave the residence halls may make arrangements to do so but will not be permitted to return upon departing.

President's Cabinet

Like the rest of campus, the President's Cabinet has been preparing for the need to work fully online. We will continue to meet and provide regular updates to our community about essential functions. I know you have many questions, as do I; I will share information as I have it. The important thing is to recognize that while this is a difficult situation, it is also temporary, and we are fortunate to have a strong campus and community as we respond. Please be patient as we implement the directives of the public health agency and continue our mission.

We will work through this unprecedented challenge together. I have tremendous confidence in the values, the integrity, and the significance of the Dominican community. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones, and know that, although it is temporarily in a virtual space, our community and our work continues.
 

— Mary B. Marcy, President

Campus contacts for more information:

Students and families:
Paul Raccanello, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
(415) 485-3223

Communications/media relations:
Sarah Gardner, Senior Director of Communications
(415) 485-3239

General queries:
safety@dominican.edu

Earlier COVID-19 Messaging

Dominican President Mary B. Marcy issued the following statement on Friday, March 13.

Dear Dominican Community,

Events concerning the coronavirus are moving quickly, and the university’s leadership is committed to supporting community health and to continuing our mission. This email contains further updates about changes to operations on campus after spring break.

Regular academic classes will be suspended this coming week, March 16-20. This will allow the campus to prepare for online course delivery beginning March 23, and to fully implement protocols to best support the health of our community.  

The University has been following the Marin County Health and Human Services recommended public health guidelines, which until now have encouraged schools to remain open. But events are moving rapidly, and the University must be proactive to support our community’s health.  University leadership is implementing the following changes as outlined below.

Classes: Please note the following changes to academic class delivery for the spring 2020 semester:

March 16-20: Regular classes will be suspended this week. (Please see below for information regarding non-lecture classes, such as clinicals and fieldwork placements.)

Beginning March 23: Classes that can be taught remotely will move to online course delivery.  

March 23 through the end of the spring semester: The University will continue online classes as long as necessary. We will continue to monitor the situation and work with our public health partners to determine when it is appropriate to return to in-class instruction.

Residence Halls: The residence halls (including Townhomes) and the dining hall remain open to those students choosing to stay on campus. There may be modifications to room arrangements and changes to dining services; the Department of Housing and Residence Life will send follow-up information to resident students in the coming week, and we ask resident students to please respond to those emails.

Clinicals and Fieldwork Placements: Clinicals and fieldwork placements will continue to meet  as scheduled. We remind students that the requirements for clinical and fieldwork placements are set by State authorities and, as such, the loss of clinical/fieldwork hours have implications for students’ progress toward graduation. Students should stay tuned for communications from their programs. Additionally, students will be notified by their program faculty if there will be changes or disruptions to their clinical or fieldwork placements. Faculty are working closely with our healthcare partners to ensure the safety of our students.

Lab, studio, and dance classes: In-person classes will not be held in the coming week. Updates will be provided later in the week regarding plans for possible online delivery of courses for the remainder of the semester. 

Osher Life Long Learning Institute (OLLI): Classes will not be held in the coming week. Updates will be provided to members later in the week regarding the upcoming Spring Term. 

Student Employees: Student employees may return to work beginning March 16th. Students not returning to work should communicate with their supervisor ASAP.

Athletics & Conlan Recreation Center: The PacWest has discontinued athletics competitions  through April 3rd. All athletics practices and events are cancelled for the week of March 16-20. The Department of Athletics will provide additional information to student athletes and coaches in the coming week. The Conlan Recreation Center will be closed March 14-22 – all classes and events in Conlan are cancelled for the week. 

Professional Development: Faculty and Staff, additional information regarding resources and training for remote teaching and work will be available next week.

Faculty Training: IT Services and Academic Affairs are developing a series of training workshops (Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Moodle, VPN) to prepare faculty for remote instruction and access. Academic Affairs will distribute information about sessions and locations. Please contact mojgan.behmand@dominican.edu with questions regarding the training offerings. Adjunct faculty currently teaching this semester will be paid for the time they spend training as per the CBA. Adjunct faculty may contact yuti.huang@dominican.edu with questions. 

Staff: Campus offices will remain open. Department supervisors should designate one employee to serve as the primary contact with IT; that individual can also assist colleagues with technology-related questions. Supervisors should determine how best to use March 16-20 in order to prepare for the possibility of many employees working from home. Some departments may want to practice remote work for those days, while others may want to team-train. Staff are welcome to attend the faculty training if it is relevant to their work.