Vice Chancellor Susan Cheu sent the following message via email to Foothill-De Anza district employees.
Aug. 8, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
Chancellor Miner is taking a well-deserved vacation and requested that I follow up on some of the concerns that were brought up Tuesday at a meeting of the Consultation Task Force, which includes shared governance, union and senior administration leaders. We will provide more detailed information in future communications but wanted to address the following recommendations as soon as possible.
Proof of vaccination: Consultation Task Force members expressed interest in requiring proof of vaccination in addition to implementing a self-reporting process to minimize risk for employees and students. Vice Chancellor Joe Moreau is researching the possibility of adding a self-reporting mechanism in MyPortal that would also allow for the uploading of documentation. He is confident this process will work, but if not, other options will be investigated.
For on-campus participation, implement vaccination mandate on Sept. 15 for employees and Sept. 20 for students regardless of FDA approval: The University of California and California State University systems are both requiring vaccinations for fall regardless of Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approval. In keeping with the participatory governance process, the Chancellor's Advisory Council (CAC) will be polled to determine if there is support for moving forward with a vaccination mandate in advance of FDA approval. If the CAC agrees and the Board of Trustees approves this change in our existing interim vaccination policy at the Sept. 13 board meeting, then employees and students would be expected to be vaccinated according to the proposed timeline, and consequences for not following the mandate would be enforced.
It's important to note that the vaccination mandate would be applicable to employees and students who are physically coming on campus or other district-controlled facilities. Employees who have a health or religious reason can receive exemptions. Individuals with other significant reasons for not being vaccinated that do not fall into the health or religious exemptions would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Use of signage: It's important to ensure that our requirements and expectations regarding safety protocols are clearly and consistently communicated throughout the district. To that end, both campus marketing departments and the district are coordinating to develop signage for use in classrooms and offices across the district.
Air quality standards: On a slightly different health related note, weather forecasters are predicting that smoke from the devastating wildfires may be arriving in the Bay Area starting this weekend. Staff are currently working on an air quality plan, but in the interim I wanted to provide the following guidance that will be used if we start to experience air quality issues. Please note we will base our determination on the anticipated Air Quality Index (AQI) scale as posted on AirNow at airnow.gov.
- AQI of 101-150: Any employee groups that work outside, such as Grounds staff, will be moved to indoor work environments.
- AQI of 150-200: Mitigating measures will be enacted, such as requesting employees to work from home when possible and minimizing outdoor activities while on-site.
- AQI over 200: Campus will be closed except where there are mitigating factors.
These are general guidelines at this point and will continue to be refined. However, they will be used if the air quality significantly declines over the next few weeks. Any questions about specific conditions should be addressed to your direct supervisor.
As we all know, we are definitely living in unprecedented times, made even more complicated by the rapid rise in infection and hospitalization rates from the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant. The district is making every effort to ensure that we can bring our students, staff and faculty back on site while minimizing the risk in doing so. We appreciate the input from all our constituency groups and will continue to evaluate our procedures to ensure that we are answering your concerns and providing as risk-free an environment as possible. Thank you in advance for your patience as we work through this process.
Regards,
Susan
Susan Cheu
Vice Chancellor, Business Services