IMPORTANT UPDATE: Campus Closure to Nonessential Personnel

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Colleagues, 

As you know by now, Kansas City and surrounding counties have declared a stay at home order that begins at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24. This means that beginning Tuesday, campus will be closed to everyone except essential personnel. You will be contacted by your supervisor if you are identified as essential. For non-essential personnel, this basically means that you are able to deliver the core components of your job in a remote manner for at least an interim period of time. Each person’s contributions during this time are especially critical and important – and your supervisor is a valuable resource to help you identify ways to continue your work remotely. 

If you need time to handle your household affairs on Monday, please let your supervisor know.  

Reminders 

·         If you are on campus, please remember that CDC guidance regarding social distancing must be followed. Please do not gather in any campus location in groups of more than 10. Please allow six feet of space between yourself and others. 

·         Remember to stay home if you are not feeling well. Anyone who has traveled to a country with CDC level designation of three or higher; has a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 or who has been exposed to someone in this category should self-quarantine for 14 days and will not be allowed on campus. Please know that we are requiring this because of the evidence that shows those countries that have taken stricter measures are seeing a drop-off of new cases. 

If you haven’t already, today or Monday: 

  1. Retrieve your laptops, charger, files/papers (that you can legally remove from campus), and other materials that you will need to continue your job remotely for at least the next 30 days. 
  2. Forward your office phone to your cell phone. 
  3. Move files that you will need to access your shared drives (e.g., Joseph) to your One Drive. 
  4. Please unplug electronics (personal and smaller refrigerators, microwaves, etc.).   
    • Larger office refrigerators should be cleared of any perishable food – especially if the stay-at-home order is extended – though these refrigerators may stay plugged in so that things like condiments are preserved.   
    • You should take home any office plants that will need to be watered.  
    • Additionally, you should remove any sensitive documents, keys, etc., from your workspace and place them in a secured (locked) location.  
  5. If essential personnel have difficulty gaining access to campus buildings, they should contact their supervisor and/or security for assistance. 

You may continue meeting with one another remotely via a variety of platforms (e.g., Zoom, Face Time, Microsoft Teams, Canvas).   

Thank you again for your help with maintaining the safety of our campus environment. Please continue to monitor your Rockhurst email account. We will provide additional updates tomorrow. 

Matthew D. Quick, Ph.D.                                              Randy Hopkins 

Vice President & Dean of Students                             Chief of Security 

Crisis Management Co-Chair                                        Crisis Management Co-Chair