College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu shared the following message regarding COVID-19 updates and a planned vaccine clinic for faculty and staff on Friday, March 19, 2021:ย
Dear Campus Community,
Iโm writing with a few updates regarding the Collegeโs ongoing response to COVID-19 as well as the governorโs recent executive order affecting state employees.ย
First, Iโm pleased to announce that the College will offer a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for faculty and staff on campus next week. While the location and registration details are still being finalized and will be shared early next week, I can share that the Medical University of South Carolina will conduct the vaccine clinic somewhere on the CofC campus from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Friday, March 26. We expect an allotment of 500 vaccines for this event. We will follow-up with more details early next week. I want to thank our staff in Student Affairs and Student Health Services for working so diligently to arrange this clinic.ย
Our Student Health Services team has also received approval from the Department of Health and Environmental Control to provide vaccines on campus for students who also qualify in phase 1B. We await the details as to the date we will receive these vaccines, but we are hopeful it will be in the next couple of weeks. We will announce information about a vaccine clinic for students as soon as it is available.ย
Second, the College remains committed to enforcing its requirements for face masks and social distancing, particularly as more employees return to campus. To that end, officers from our Public Safety Department will begin conducting joint patrols with officials from the City of Charlestonโs Livability Office. The cityโs mask ordinance remains in effect, and violators can be cited for non-compliance. Please do your part and follow these requirements. As always, if you see unsafe and/or non-compliant behavior associated with members of our campus community, please report it using our online reporting form. The link is also available on the main page of the Back on the Bricks website.ย
ย Lastly, I want to thank the many employees who joined our Faculty & Staff Virtual Town Hall earlier today. We had a great turnout and excellent questions. I hope we provided helpful answers. If we did not get to your question during the event, please send an email to covid19@cofc.edu, and someone will get back to you with a response.ย
In closing, I want to reiterate how much I appreciate your hard work and the sacrifices that so many of you are making on behalf of this institution on a daily basis. I recognize the tremendous burden that this pandemic has placed upon you, your families and loved ones and your overall mental and physical health. Please know that you are appreciated and valued. ย
Your commitment to our institution and our students is inspiring to me. I am honored to be your leader. Please try to stay positive and take care of each other. The next few weeks will be challenging as we return more employees to campus in response to the governorโs executive order. But I know that we can accomplish this safely because I have seen firsthand what we have already accomplished together โ as one family, as one Cougar Nation.ย
Have a great weekend!ย
Andrewย
Andrew T.ย Hsu,ย Ph.D.
President
College of Charlestonย
