Through a great deal of thoughtful planning and preparation, we have had a successful re-opening of Virginia Western’s campus for Fall Semester. I wish to applaud our faculty and staff for their efforts to support our students whether they are taking classes online or in-person. I also wish to thank our students for their diligence in following safety protocols such as mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing while on campus.
Like most colleges, we have seen positive COVID-19 cases among individuals who have been to campus. Thanks to those individuals self-reporting, we have responded quickly to each case with deep cleaning and have worked directly with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to identify and inform any people who may have been in close contact. Fortunately, we have not seen campus spread. Please help us continue to respond appropriately if you believe you may be positive for COVID-19 or are being tested by self-reporting through forms on our dedicated webpage: https://www.virginiawestern.edu/covid19/.
In an effort to share available information on self-reported positive COVID-19 cases to our campus community, we are launching a new data dashboard at: https://www.virginiawestern.edu/covid19/dashboard/. Virginia Western is committed to maintaining the privacy of individuals affected by COVID-19 and will not be sharing other information that may potentially identify them. All learning areas identified through tracing and investigation related to these positive tests are thoroughly cleaned to the standards set forth by the VDH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thank you again for all you are doing during these extraordinary times. Together, we will get through this.
Sincerely,
Robert H. Sandel, Ed.D.
President
Virginia Western Community College
