A message to staff and faculty of FHSU
By TISA MASON
President, Fort Hays State University
Dear Students and Colleagues;
As we near the end of our first week back on campus, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for making sure that despite all the COVID-19 driven changes to how we teach, learn, live and work on campus this fall, the spirit and energy of a reunited Tiger Nation is back and better than ever.
Two of the most powerful characteristics of our campus community are our abilities to innovate and to persevere through adversity-to look at challenges as opportunities to grow, learn and improve. As I walk the campus, I see the results of months of planning for this fall at work for the good of all of us.
On-campus students are wearing face coverings and maintaining social distance standards. Our faculty have transitioned to technology-enhanced course delivery models and are working closely with students to make sure whether they are in class, online, in isolation or in quarantine, they are able to stay connected and on-track with their academic plans. And I see the staff of this university leading by example and adjusting workspaces and work routines to ensure we don’t lose a step in delivering on the mission of this university.
Perhaps the most powerful characteristic of our remarkable campus community is the extent to which we care for each other. One of the best ways we demonstrate this commitment to each other every day is by adhering to the health and safety policies we instituted for this academic year. Like you, I’ve heard strong arguments and a number of perspectives regarding the effectiveness of face coverings. Wherever you stand on this topic, if you are an on-campus student or colleague, I ask that you embrace our health and safety policies and procedures-especially the wearing of face coverings. Please approach this as something we all need to do for each other.
As of today, the Student Health Center has identified 21 positive cases of COVID-19 among members of our on-campus community. All are now isolating at locations off campus. Individuals who have been identified as possibly having been exposed to the virus are following our quarantine procedures. We continue to work closely with the Ellis County Health Department and Hays Med in our efforts to mitigate the spread of this virus.
While the number of positive cases will fluctuate, our isolation and quarantine protocols are working. If you are an on-campus student or employee and you haven’t already ordered and submitted your free COVID-19 saliva test kit, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible. If we continue to work together and follow our health and safety policies, these can be among our finest hours as a unified Tiger Nation.
Kind Regards,
Tisa Mason, Ed.D., CAE
President
Fort Hays State University