Dear MICA employees,

 We want to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that helped to ensure a healthy fall semester. Your continued vigilance to COVID-19 safety has helped to ensure our MICA community fared well through these past few months. Looking forward to the upcoming semester, MICA wants to follow up on our previous communication regarding January COVID-19 testing and booster shots, as well as share additional details regarding the start to the 2022 Spring Semester. 

Boosters

First and foremost, in alignment with CDC recommendations as well as guidance from our consulting epidemiologists, MICA continues to strongly encourage every eligible member of our community to receive their COVID-19 booster shot as soon as they qualify. Study after study continues to show that booster shots are a necessary tool in combating Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant. Please keep yourself safe and continue to help ensure public health and safety for the MICA community.

• As a reminder, all adults 18 and older who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines are eligible for a booster at least six months after their second shots. Adults 18 and older who received the Johnson & Johnson’s shot are eligible for a booster shot at least two months after their first shot. See the CDC’s latest guidance for more information regarding booster eligibility. 

Testing

Additionally, as previously announced in the December 14 memo, MICA will be requiring all employees to be tested in January 2022. This requirement includes every employee. Employees with telework agreements or faculty who are on sabbatical, even if they do not intend to be on campus in January, are still required to get tested.

 All employees have the option to be tested either on campus in BBOX, or to receive a PCR test from an external site, such as a pharmacy or a state, county, or city-run testing center. REMINDER: home tests, rapid tests, or antigen tests are not acceptable.

• Tests taken at on-campus must be taken no more than 72 hours after returning to campus. Instructions on uploading proof of a negative PCR Covid test will be sent out to all employees by January 4.
• Tests taken off-site must be taken no longer than 72 hours ahead of returning to campus and test results must be uploaded into Workday immediately. 
• Employees with telework agreements but who do not have a set return-to-campus date must test within the first two weeks of January 2022.
• On-campus testing location is in the Gateway Building in BBOX from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following dates:
  • Week of January 3
    • Wednesday, January 5
    • Thursday, January 6
  • Week of January 10
    • Monday, January 10
    • Tuesday, January 11
    • Wednesday, January 12
    • Thursday, January 13
  • Week of January 17
    • Tuesday, January 18
    • Wednesday, January 19
    • Thursday, January 20
  • Week of January 24
    • Monday, January 24
    • Tuesday, January 25
    • Wednesday, January 26
    • Thursday, January 27

First Week of Classes to be Online

As a further measure, in order to gather positivity rates and compile critical data on the MICA community, all MICA courses will be conducted virtually the first week of classes (Tuesday, January 18-Friday, January 21). MICA plans to resume our hybrid modality beginning the second week. The College is also asking that students stagger their return to campus through this first week. 

This staggered return, as well as virtual first week, will also allow MICA to complete testing the our campus community before classes resume in person and to understand our community’s public health profile. Students are being encouraged, if able, to take a COVID-10 test within 72 hours prior to arrival to campus, in addition to testing twice upon return to campus in January . 

For full details regarding the schedule for the staggered student return, see the December 21 memo. 

For employees who have concerns about returning to work in person or who would like to have consideration for a work-from-home arrangement, please speak with your manager and PB&C (humanresources@mica.edu). Your manager reserves the right to approve or deny your request based on business needs. Additional information about MICA’s Provisional Telework policy is here.

We know information around Spring 2022 is being decided and shared quickly, and may be a lot to take in and fully process. Please be on the lookout for Recap Issue 20, which will be shared soon after this memo, to help provide additional context and clarity in order to ensure our MICA community fully understands plans heading into January. 

We continue to appreciate everyone’s work in helping to keep the MICA community safe. We wish you a peaceful and restful winter break.