To the University community,

The University’s COVID-19 Strategic Task Force, led by Provost Mark Byrnes, will be wrapping up its final report and submitting it to me early next week.  While still in draft form, I understand it contains a number of recommendations on important next steps in preparing our employees and students to return to campus.  I will be sharing the Task Force report with constituent groups at the university through a variety of communications. 

I previously announced that Monday, June 1 would begin the return of employees to campus, but given the fact that Governor Lee announced earlier this month that he had amended State Order 30 and allowed segments of the state’s economy to return to work, and in light of re-opening experiences in other Southern states; I have decided it is best to extend our first returns to Tuesday, June 16.  Extending our current work from home arrangement will give us time to observe the level of activity of the virus, review next steps, and seek feedback from our faculty, staff, students and others, before we fully open the campus.

It will also allow us to begin implementing our return-to-work strategies, as recommended by the task force, and complete our efforts to secure any personal protective equipment (PPE) to support our employees and students.  Information on specific expectations of students and employees, related to work schedules and health and safety expectations, will be available to you.  

Thank you for your hard work and continued service to our University during these challenging times.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu