(updated 04.23.21)
A message from the Piedmont University COVID-19 Task Force:
As we near the end of the semester, we want to thank our campus community – students, faculty, and staff – for your resilience and continued compliance with our health protocols. Thanks to your efforts we are weathering this storm better than most. Our current protocols will remain unchanged through the end of the semester and into early summer.
The Task Force continues to meet weekly to discuss the state of the pandemic in our community and how these conditions might impact our health protocols. We will announce our Fall semester return-to-campus protocols in the summer.
Pillar Protocols
Academic Schedule
The academic calendar for the spring has been altered in the following ways: The start date for Spring semester classes will be Tuesday, January 19, 2021 (the day after Martin Luther King Day). There also will be no spring break. Instead of spring break, there will be strategically placed no-class “reading periods” to provide students and faculty brief opportunities to take breaks or catch up on work
Face Coverings/Medical Verification
Faculty, staff, students, and visitors are required to wear face coverings while in class, attending events, conducting business on campus, and in densely populated common spaces. The college will provide face coverings for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. To move back into the residence halls, All residential students returning to our campus for the spring semester must submit medical verification that they have tested negative for COVID-19. The verification must be dated no more than 10 days before you return to campus. Residential students may upload their results to the Piedmont app.
Social Distancing
Faculty, staff, and students are required to social distance while in class, attending events, conducting business on campus, and in densely populated common spaces. Classrooms and laboratories are being reconfigured to allow for social distancing. Classroom instruction, location, and teaching method may be revised to allow for physical distancing. With possible exceptions, large classes may be taught in a weekly alternating manner that would include both face-to-face and online formats.
Disinfecting and Cleaning
Facilities management and dining services have developed enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols for common areas and high-touch surfaces including classrooms, labs, and offices, that are consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
The Piedmont Pledge and Health Screening
We all have a shared responsibility to care for the health and wellbeing of the members of the Piedmont College community. All students will be required to sign the Piedmont Pledge, affirming knowledge and endorsement of our shared responsibilities. The newly created Student Health Response Protocol and ongoing screenings (especially in our residential and athletic communities) will also be part of our ongoing effort to keep our Piedmont Community healthy and our students academically successful.