The Pack is Back: A Safe Return to Campus
Welcome to the Summer 2022 Semester. Here's what you need to know.
Latest Guidance:
- The University of New Mexico is recommending that masks be worn indoors at all UNM campuses, effective July 5, as Bernalillo, McKinley, Valencia, Taos, Los Alamos and Sandoval counties are categorized as “high COVID-19 community levels” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- If you test positive for COVID, please report it using our Self-Report Portal and follow CDC protocols and quarantine yourself for five days. Then take care of yourself.
- In alignment with existing public health orders, UNM continues to require masks at facilities associated with the health system and HSC academic and research spaces, where close contact with the clinical environment requires continued masking. This includes facilities in the north campus HSC academic and research facilities, as well as at the HSC Rio Rancho campus. UNM will also continue to encourage the use of masks on public transportation, including UNM shuttles and buses, consistent with CDC guidance.
- Please be aware that several large campus venues have also updated their COVID-19 protocols, with some variation among facilities. Before you attend an event at Popejoy Hall or University Arena, for instance, please check with the venue to find out what’s required for admittance.
- Individuals with exemptions to UNM’s vaccination mandate will now be able to submit results of a PCR, NAAT or rapid antigen test. This includes the use of an in-home, rapid antigen test, but test results must be dated and a different image of a new test result with a date must be supplied each week. This is a revision of our earlier policy, which did not permit the submission of results of a rapid antigen test.
- The University of New Mexico will be following the latest guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) on quarantining or isolating following a positive test for COVID. Previous guidance required a ten day quarantine/isolation period; the new guidance will require a quarantine or isolation period of five days.
- The University of New Mexico now requires all current employees and students to receive a booster dose of the vaccine when eligible according to the FDA. Please refer to the updated vaccination mandate for more information.
- UNM COVID-Safe Event Protocols: At all indoor UNM events, including University Arena and Popejoy Hall, event organizers may choose to require those in attendance to be masked and/or provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test dated within the last 72 hours. Such proof may be actual cards or documents or photographs on a mobile device. In some instances, on-site testing may also be available.
Continuing Guidance:
- The University of New Mexico, including our Health Sciences Center (HSC), is working hard to responsibly “Bring Back the Pack” by enacting a comprehensive plan to move our campus back to a fully operational status.
- Please check the UNM COVID Dashboard for the latest results on daily screenings, including any reported positives.
- Guidance is available for instructors on what to do if a student informs you they have tested positive for COVID-19.
Processes for Non-Compliance with
Administrative Mandates On Required COVID-19 Vaccination
Phasing Our Return to Full Operations
From June 1, 2020 until approximately the middle of July, UNM will be developing a comprehensive design for Bringing Back the Pack in Fall 2020. During this early summer phase, a limited group of individuals will be permitted to return to campus to start up critical functions and to support Fall planning. Services will continue to be available remotely, buildings will largely remain locked, and campus access will remain limited. Yet, our campuses will be forging the tools for protecting Lobos and helping them thrive under new and challenging conditions.
In this early summer phase:
- UNM will resume some of the essential operations that have been put on hold since March 13, 2020, including research and creative work that require in-person access to specialized facilities and provision of services to our students and the citizens of New Mexico;
- UNM will design and pilot, through a comprehensive Presidential leadership plan, the processes necessary for protecting health and delivering education and services as more people return to our campuses later in summer;
- UNM will prepare for a hybrid fall term in which we can deliver the critical elements of an in-person education in a controlled way that minimizes transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
In order to undertake this first phase of resumption of operations, our institutional actions must be aligned with the state’s COVID Safe Practices (CSPs) for businesses (See All Together New Mexico, especially pages 9, 11, 14), which include physical and policy approaches to hygiene, screening, distancing, and mask-wearing. Personal actions also focus on hygiene, self-screening, distancing, and mask-wearing (See All Together New Mexico, especially page 7). This is a collective effort -- I will keep you safe, and you will keep me safe.
University leadership has been actively planning our phased return to full operations around an aligned strategy with integrated task teams. The practices outlined in the state document were also described in the recent memos from VP Gabriel Lopez and EVC Richard Larson to researchers, and the Research Operations Continuity Task Force is still working on their next set of recommendations.
As directed by state health officials, we are phasing in our return to operations in a limited manner with an emphasis on the safety of our internal and external communities. We are ensuring that all members of our community who are able to do so continue to work and learn remotely during this phase. Some faculty, staff, and students, however, will need to return to campus when it is appropriate in order to complete their work in our mission areas.
Within each major area of university operations: Academic Affairs, Finance and Administration, the President’s Office, within the specialized areas of the Health Sciences Center, and on each of our branch campuses, leadership will communicate directly with their units to organize and prioritize the areas that can start to move to an increased on-campus presence.
Once a department’s Return to Operations plan has been approved by the appropriate Dean/Director, the next step towards increasing your department’s on-campus presence will be to formally submit a Facility Reopen Request on the Facility Reopen Request website.
Managers and Supervisors should not begin asking employees to return to campus until they receive final approval/confirmation through the UNM Facility Reopen Approval Process.
In the remainder of this document, we outline specific steps and actions that units must take, when authorized by their respective leadership, to allow the return of additional faculty, staff, and students to campus.
