{"id":16420,"date":"2020-03-25T17:26:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T22:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/?p=16420"},"modified":"2020-03-27T14:17:24","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T19:17:24","slug":"following-governors-order-mitchell-hamline-closes-campus-to-students-march-28-april-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitchellhamline.edu\/news\/2020\/03\/25\/following-governors-order-mitchell-hamline-closes-campus-to-students-march-28-april-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Following governor’s order, Mitchell Hamline closes campus to students March 28-April 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Below is a message from Dean Knapp to faculty and staff following Gov. Walz’s announcement Wednesday afternoon of a two-week “stay-at-home” order for Minnesota. A similar message was emailed to students.<\/p>\n

Good afternoon,<\/p>\n

As many of you have undoubtedly heard, this afternoon Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive stay-at-home order, effective Friday, March 27, 11:59 p.m. to April 10.\u00a0 As a practical matter, over the last several days, Mitchell Hamline has operated in the spirit of that order.\u00a0 Some of us have work that can only be done here, and we all appreciate that that work has continued. \u00a0Almost all of us who can, are working from home. \u00a0Those of us who need to be on-site in order to do some of our work have come in, done that work, and returned home. \u00a0That needs to continue.<\/p>\n

The text of the governor\u2019s order contains some language that provides an exemption for travel to and from work for some, including employees of colleges and universities.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the key language:<\/p>\n

6. Exemptions\u2014Critical Sectors.\u00a0 All workers who can work from home must do so.\u00a0 Workers in following Critical Sectors, who are performing work that cannot be done at their home or residence through telework or virtual work and can be done only at a place of work outside of their home or residence, are exempted\u2026.<\/p>\n

w.\u00a0 Education.\u00a0 Educators and other workers supporting public and private schools, as well as higher education (e.g., colleges and universities)\u2026.<\/p>\n

I encourage all of you who can work from home to do so.\u00a0 Those of you who have work that you need to do here on campus should be able to continue to do so in compliance with the governor\u2019s order.\u00a0 We will be working to get additional information from the Minnesota Department of Health to provide to you tomorrow.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we will have to close the building to students.<\/p>\n

I know that many of you will have additional questions.\u00a0 Right now, we don\u2019t have much additional information, however.\u00a0 We\u2019ll follow up with additional information just as soon as we have it.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your continued patience and support.<\/p>\n

Peter<\/p>\n

Peter B. Knapp<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Interim Dean and President<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Health status reporting<\/h2>\n

If you learn that you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with COVID-19, or that you or someone close to you has been exposed to a person who has COVID-19 or to a person from an area experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, please notify a school official. Faculty and staff should notify Human Resources Director Andrea Bien, andrea.bien@mitchellhamline.edu<\/a>. Students should notify Dean of Students Lynn Lemoine,\u00a0lynn.lemoine@mitchellhamline.edu<\/a>. We respect the privacy of our faculty, staff, and students. The information gathered will be used in the event that we have a confirmed case reported by a member of our community. The sharing of information will be limited to those individuals that have a business need to know and would include the Minnesota State Health Department.<\/p>\n

More information<\/h2>\n

For current health-related information, we encourage you to visit the World Health Organization<\/a>,\u00a0the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, and\u00a0the Minnesota Department of Health<\/a> websites. We will also update school information on the website.<\/p>\n

Contacts for questions<\/h2>\n