Dear Infrastructure and Sustainability team,
Happy New Year! I hope each of you was able to relax and recharge over the holidays. As we prepare for the spring semester to begin this week, there are a few I&S and campus updates I want to make sure you’re aware of.
First and foremost, I want to congratulate Rebecca Fell on her promotion to executive director of Real Estate Services on a permanent basis. Rebecca took over the department on an interim basis in February just before the pandemic hit, and her leadership has been crucial as we’ve navigated a variety of new scenarios and challenges. That includes helping to orchestrate innovative solutions for a number of campus partners, including housing and athletics. Please join me in congratulating Rebecca.
On the campus front, there are multiple items I want to flag for your attention. First, campus announced last week that the on-campus monitoring testing will continue to be available for family/household members of CU Boulder staff as long as testing capacity permits. You must be asymptomatic to participate, and I encourage you to utilize this valuable service. Full details are on the Protect Our Herd website.
Second, the university is collaborating with Boulder County Public Health on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. While many of our frontline essential staff will be part of Phase 1B in the state’s distribution plan, we may be well into the spring semester before those employees become eligible. As vaccines become available for eligible employees according to the state framework, those employees will be notified of the option for receiving the vaccine through CU Boulder.
Finally, as you likely know by now, Boulder County last week shifted to Level Orange on the state’s COVID-19 dial. Along with rollout of the vaccines, this is encouraging news. However, we must all still remain vigilant, wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, working from home when possible and always staying home when sick.
You can read about all of these COVID-19 updates and more in the most recent weekly COVID-19 update in CU Boulder Today. I encourage you to read those updates each week as valuable information related to testing and vaccines will continue to be shared as new information becomes available.
Your work in 2020 to keep our campus thriving amid the pandemic was nothing short of inspiring. I am excited for the hope of a new year and a new semester, as well as the opportunity to keep working alongside each of you in service to this university.
Sincerely,
David Kang, vice chancellor for Infrastructure and Sustainability