Early Bird

Latest on Covid-19 and campus operations

COO Larry Sampler provides details on vaccine verification and wellness updates.

By Larry Sampler, chief operating officer

June 24, 2021

As our July 6 return-to-campus date nears here at Metropolitan State University of Denver, I and other senior leaders cannot wait to see more of our great community back on campus and continue to do as much as possible to ensure a safe and seamless transition back for all Roadrunners.

As mentioned in last week’s update, I, along with Provost Alfred Tatum, Ph.D., and Ed Brown, chief of staff to President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., are looking forward to touring campus during the afternoons of July 6 through July 9 to welcome you back. Dr. Tatum and Ed joined the MSU Denver leadership team during the pandemic, and this will be part of their journey to get acquainted with our valued faculty and staff and see where they work. More details will follow regarding when we’ll be in your neck of the woods, and we can't wait to see you soon!

Vaccination-verification survey results

Faculty, staff, students and prospective students are continuing to complete the vaccination-verification survey at a reassuringly high rate. According to the results of recent vaccination-verification surveys distributed to faculty and staff as well as registered students and nonregistered students:

Registered students (48% response rate):

82.5% of respondents are fully or partially vaccinated.

3.6% intend to be vaccinated by fall.

Unregistered students (3% response rate)

78.5% are partially or fully vaccinated.

6.3% intend to be vaccinated by fall.

Employees (68.5% response rate):

95% are fully or partially vaccinated.

Thank you to all members of our University community who have completed their survey. Please continue to encourage your colleagues and students to submit their information as soon as possible to aid in the University’s planning and decision-making for the fall semester.

Wellness

The Roadrunners Safe Return Wellness Committee continues to focus on the health and overall well-being of our community from the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, occupational, financial, environmental and physical perspectives. The committee has developed a new online Wellness Dashboard that will highlight events, resources and on-campus areas for reflection, prayer and meditation. Roadrunners are invited to submit wellness-related events, resources and information for inclusion on the site.

Hybrid meeting support

To help the many departments on the MSU Denver campus that will be conducting meetings via the hybrid format, CFO Kevin Taylor and the Information Technology team have put together a guide and some additional resources for running effective hybrid meetings.

RTD Pass reminder

Starting Monday, all faculty (including affiliate faculty members), professional staff, classified staff and temporary staff can get their Regional Transportation District EcoPass from Auraria Higher Education Center Parking and Transportation Services in the 7th Street Garage. To help with the return to campus, MSU Denver will cover the cost for the fall (July 1 to Dec. 31) pass.

Additional resources as we return

We understand that our MSU Denver community may still have questions, and we are doing our best to keep communication open and information current. In addition to my weekly articles and the Safe Return to Campus website, the videos below will offer more information on two important topics. Please continue to watch the Early Bird for more timely updates.

Your questions about alternative work arrangements answered

Your questions about the vaccine-verification and -exemption process answered

As always, if you have questions or concerns about our Safe Return to Campus, please reach out through this form or via email at roadrunnersafereturn@msudenver.edu.

Sincerely,

Larry Sampler

Vice president for Administration, Finance and Facilities and chief operating officer