Updates on vaccination availability and travel guidance
Today, we share an update that email notifications have been delivered to the following categories of University community members letting them know that Employee Health at the Medical Center is able to schedule them for a COVID-19 vaccination:
Faculty, staff, and matriculated students 65 years and older
Warner School and Eastman School students who are working in preschool–grade 12 settings.
After these first groups are vaccinated, additional slots will be made available more broadly for in-person instructional faculty, who are also approved within the current New York State eligibility designations. These notifications will also be delivered through University email and will begin as vaccine supplies allow.
For University staff who do not fall within the currently approved categories but are in regular student contact, the University is working with New York State through the Office of Government Relations and with the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities to expand the categories of vaccine-eligible University workers.
Please do not call Employee Health with questions; staff members are dedicated to the vaccination process and other important employee health business. For current updates on vaccine availability on campus, be sure to check @Rochester and the University’s COVID-19 Resource Center. For additional facts about the vaccination process through the Medical Center, see the URMC Vaccine FAQ.
The Coronavirus University Restart Team has also announced updated travel guidance for the spring semester. The new guidance is in effect through at least June 30 but may be subject to change as circumstances surrounding the pandemic evolve. You can find more information below and on the COVID-19 Resource Center.
Since Wednesday’s notice in @Rochester, there is one new case of COVID-19 to report: one Medical Campus student. Please note that the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated daily. Whenever a new case is known, the contact-tracing process begins immediately with confirmed exposures being contacted and required to quarantine.
It’s also extremely important for the health of the University community that individuals continue to adhere to the face masking and social distancing protocols. Even as some individuals are now receiving their first or second dose of the vaccine, these practices to prevent the transmission of the virus cannot be relaxed.
If you think you’re experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, it’s important to report them through Dr. Chat Bot immediately. Even if you think your symptoms might be something else—like a cold, seasonal congestion, or allergies—it’s still important to tell University health professionals and contact tracers what you’re experiencing.
Updated travel guidance for the spring semester
The Coronavirus University Restart Team has updated the guidance for University-related travel (for faculty, staff and postdocs) and personal travel (for undergraduate and graduate students) through at least June 30.
Most of the fall semester travel restrictions are remaining in place for the spring semester given the current state of COVID-19 in the Rochester area and across the country; however, these guidelines may be subject to change in the coming months if the circumstances of the pandemic improve.
Learn more about Quinncia, an interactive artificial intelligence-based career development platform that helps students improve interview skills and polish resumes to find jobs and internships. Quinncia provides real-time feedback and suggestions, and flags any errors that might be caught in an employer’s applicant tracking system, preventing your resume from moving forward.
If you are enrolled in a University health care plan, you can earn $125 by completing your Personal Health Questionnaire and having a biometric screening. You may qualify for other opportunities to improve your health, increase your wellness knowledge, and earn even more through Well-U, your employee wellness team. Learn more about this opportunity.
‘Open’ assessment strategies
Tomorrow, Friday, January 15, the River Campus Libraries will host a workshop from 2 to 3 p.m. EST on open educational resources and open pedagogy. Authors from Open Pedagogy Approaches will speak on their chapters, which will cover a faculty-librarian-student partnership that resulted in open educational resources materials for a psychology course and open access digital learning. Register to attend.
The University is cosponsoring a virtual conference, “Racism is a Public Health Crisis – Attacking the Two Pandemics,” hosted by Action for a Better Community. National and local speakers will address how to heal communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19, boost hurting economies, and help families thrive during a global pandemic that is widening disparities in health, wealth, and justice. The conference takes place on January 14, 21, and 28. Medical Center faculty members Angela Branche, an assistant professor of medicine and codirector of the UR Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit, and Myra Mathis, a faculty member and addiction psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry, are scheduled to speak on January 21. Register for the conference here.
Webinar on using adolescent developmental science to transform child welfare and juvenile justice systems
The TRANSFORM Research Center will hold a free webinar on Thursday, January 21, at noon EST on how adolescent developmental science can be applied to child-serving systems, including the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Speaker Vivian Mangold, chief executive officer at Juvenile Law Center, will discuss many of the leading issues for youth, families, and advocates working to transform these systems. Register for the event; complete this form to receive a recording of the webinar.
Bettina Love to deliver Warner School’s winter conference keynote address
Bettina Love, an award-winning author and the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at the University of Georgia, will be the keynote speaker for the Warner School’s Doctoral Student Peer Support Association 2021 winter conference on Saturday, February 27, at 10:30 a.m. EST. Love will discuss her most recent book and reflect on recent national and international events; her speech will be followed by a Q&A with conference participants. Space is limited for this virtual event. Register online to attend.
Join the Memorial Art Gallery for a free virtual lecture on Thursday, January 28, at 6 p.m. EST with Greg Pierce, associate curator of film and video at the Andy Warhol Museum. The talk will illuminate Warhol’s relationship with television and how it intersected with and informed his painting, filmmaking, and photography as well as his own celebrity. Register here to receive the Zoom access information.
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