BOH Agenda 082620 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Message from Chancellor Guskiewicz on letter from the Orange County Health Department I UNC-Chapel Hill I am writing to update you on a letter I received late last Wednesday night (July 29, 2020) from the Orange County Health Department (OCHD), my subsequent conversations to clarify the points made in that letter and specific actions we have taken that we believe address their concerns. It is important to note that we have had a very cooperative and collegial working relationship with the OCHD for many years, but especially over the past months with direct and weekly interactions between the OCHD and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bob Blouin and Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and Risk Management George Battle. In the letter, the OCHD "...recommends that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consider..." and offered two recommendations for consideration : 1. "*Restrict on campus housing to at-risk students with no access to equitable educational resources and those with true housing needs (i.e. International students, Carolina Covenant & marginalized students)" 2. "Consider virtual classes for the entire Fall Semester but at minimum begin the first 5 weeks of the semester with online instruction only with plans to reassess the situation at the 5 week mark" They also raised questions regarding testing capacity and transportation. While the OCHD letter was not an order or a mandate for the University to take any specific action, as always, I took their recommendations very seriously and convened a meeting Thursday morning of our infectious disease and public health experts, as well as senior leaders on our Roadmap Implementation Team, just hours after receiving the letter. We reviewed their recommendations, and carefully analyzed our current status and the steps we were actively taking to de-densify our campus. We believe we have made significant progress towards aligning with the OCHD's general recommendations and considerations. https://www.unc.edu/posts/2020/08/05/message-from-guskiewicz-on-letter-from-the-orange-county-health-department/[8/6/20, 10:08:00 AM]