Chancellor’s Announcement - Back to Campus Update August 18, 2021
August 18, 2021
Dear Peralta Community,
Thank you to all the faculty, staff, and administrators who are working so diligently to prepare for the fall semester that begins on Monday, August 23, 2021. We’ve accomplished a lot to get ready and there’s still much to do.
Vaccination Policy
The PCCD Board of Trustees approved the first Bay Area community college district vaccination policy for students and employees, which we announced on August 5th. Employees, contractors, and students are required to show proof of vaccination (or a recent negative COVID test result) in order to be on campus. The draft administrative procedure regarding vaccinations has been posted on the Safe Peralta website and you can read it here. We’ve also posted the draft COVID-19 Prevention Plan.
All of these documents and plans have been shared with leaders from all three collective bargaining units. We’ve met with the Peralta Federation of Teachers, and they have already indicated approval. We have met with IUOE Local 39 and they understand the policy and are not opposed. We have reached out to SEIU Local 1021 and hope to discuss with them shortly.
Upcoming vaccination opportunities are posted on the Safe Peralta website. Free COVID testing for students is available at the Roots Clinic. We are investigating potential partners for on-campus testing service for students and employees.
To aid with vaccination status tracking and campus access, employees should use Company Nurse online, a service offered by our insurance provider ASCIP. The screening and vaccination information submission form guide is available online at Safe Peralta. Employees can start the process on the Company Nurse website here.
Students and contractors should use the Campus Shield app. Campus Shield is available for both mobile devices and desktop computers but we recommend using the mobile app when visiting a campus. Once installed, use the COVID Health Assessment function within Campus Sheild to answer the screening questions for campus entry.
We understand that many questions may come up regarding the vaccination policy. Please send your questions to Human Resources at hr@peralta.edu. There are FAQs posted on the Safe Peralta website, for employees and for students, and we’ll be using your feedback to get these FAQs updated.
Facilities
In my August 10th Announcement with Vice Chancellor of General Services Atheria Smith, we provided a building cleaning schedule. With “Help from HPLE” (High Performance Learning Environments), the cleaning teams have made excellent progress. As of last night, August 17, 2021, the buildings that were prioritized for cleaning at all four colleges and the District office have been cleaned, tested, passed the tests, and are ready for use.
Following CDC guidelines, plumbing for our water supply has been flushed in order to prevent Legionella and other potential problems from water systems after a prolonged shutdown.
HVAC systems have been examined and we are working through the list of things discovered during that examination including the changing of air filters.
Signs for posting on campuses with information about indoor mask requirements and CDC recommendations for mitigating the spread of COVID are currently being printed. These will be posted on the campuses on Friday, August 20th.
We will open with limits on August 23rd. DGS, working closely with IT and Risk Management, is trying to standardize the entry process for all campuses. Berkeley City College will have a slightly different access procedure given the process for facial recognition and temperature-taking already in use there. We will share the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with the Vice Presidents of Administrative Services at each of the campuses.
Buildings prioritized for opening have been cleaned and tested. Marina Security will have patrol officers stationed at those building entrances to review COVID access credentials (Company Nurse for employees and Campus Shield for students and visitors). Kiosks will be available at Laney, Merritt, and COA to help students and employees with access to Campus Shield and Company Nurse. These kiosks will be staffed from 7:30am to 8:30pm Monday through Friday, with additional time planned for weekend classes.
All campuses will have security teams patrolling 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As always, if you need to report a security or safety concern, or need an escort from a campus location to the parking lot, you can call the Campus Public Safety dispatcher at (510) 466-7236.
DGS will be providing daily updates as we continue to prepare for the limited opening on August 23rd. We will be posting those updates on https://safe.peralta.edu/.
Flex Day
Please join me on Thursday morning, August 19th, to kick off the district-wide Flex Day for professional development. I’ll be sharing more about my vision for our community and the need for “ubuntu” here at Peralta. The morning session begins at 8:30am - please register for the opening session here.
The situation with COVID-19 and the Delta variant is changing rapidly and we ask for your patience as we work to maintain a safe environment for students and employees. Please visit https://safe.peralta.edu/ to keep up with the latest developments here at PCCD.
Again, thank you all for your dedication in serving the students of the Peralta Community College District.
Be Safe, and Stay Well,
Jannett N. Jackson, PhD
Interim Chancellor
