Hotline 8.24.20
This week’s Hotline! includes the following articles:
• President’s column: Moving in and moving forward
• COVID-19 testing on campus Tuesday
• Face coverings on campus
• Free Care19 Alert app available
• Coronavirus updates
• What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…
The VCSU Hotline! online newsletter is published weekly during the academic year. Deadline to submit articles (photos encouraged) is 3 p.m. Friday.
President’s column: Moving in and moving forward
Greetings from Valley City State University!
What an exciting and energizing week we had last week at VCSU! We began by welcoming new faculty and staff to campus and introducing them to our campus community. This annual Welcome Week provides an opportunity for new faculty and staff to learn more about the institution and their colleagues, and to begin to learn what “We All Row” means.
Keynote speakers for this year’s event were Sara Schairer and Burrell Poe from Compassion It. They shared an important and well-timed message that compassion can be an action verb and talked us through how to make that happen. Some of their examples of compassionate activities included the following:
- Smiling at a stranger
- Giving someone the benefit of the doubt
- Sending a “thinking of you” message to a friend going through a difficult time
- Having self-compassion and not beating yourself up for imperfection
- Simply being fully present with a friend
It’s clear that patience, kindness and compassion exhibited to ourselves, family, and colleagues will help us manage these unique and stressful times as we reopen our university and schools.
As new students began arriving for move-in day, carting belongings to residence hall rooms, and trying to get settled, excitement and anticipation filled the air. But parents, perhaps feeling a bit unsettled in dropping off their sons and daughters as they start a new chapter here at VCSU, experienced a whole range of emotions.
I vividly recall the feeling of anticipation, excitement, and even sadness when dropping off my own two daughters as they began their university studies. All parents want their children, now college-aged young adults, to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted, and successful. Imagine how much more powerful these emotions are in the age of COVID-19.
Parents are placing their trust in their children as they transition to adulthood. They’re also placing their trust in us at VCSU to provide not only an education but an experience, and to protect and keep their young adults — our students — safe and well as they learn and grow. Our work is always vital and important, but you can imagine the responsibility we feel now, and how organized, prepared and careful we must be moving forward.
Months of planning and preparation have gone into where we are today. While we can’t predict what the future will hold, we know that we’ve tried our best to enable us to serve our mission. The motto we’ve used to start the fall is that we are “Better Together,” and we will have many opportunities in the days ahead to fulfill this belief.
You can feel the excitement, energy and emotion — it’s palpable and emanates from our students, our faculty, and our staff. Our folks have been putting in long hours and have been doing everything in their power to get ready and prepare for a successful semester. They’re concerned about the uncertainty COVID presents, but they’re also strongly committed to this university.
To our new and returning students, we say, “Welcome Vikings!” We pledge to do everything we can to ensure our students’ success, and we’re confident we’ll succeed this semester, this year, and in the future as we move forward together.
Go Vikings!
COVID-19 testing on campus Tuesday
A free COVID-19 testing event for VCSU students and employees will be held Tuesday, Aug. 25, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on campus at the West Fieldhouse Parking Lot. Walk-ups are welcome, but preregistration at testreg.nd.gov is strongly encouraged.
A free community-wide testing event will be held in the same location on Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 4-5 p.m.
In addition to these dates, City County Health District in Valley City offers free testing every Wednesday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. by appointment only. Call 845-8518 to schedule an appointment.
Free Care19 Alert app available
VCSU students and employees are strongly encouraged to download a free smartphone app, Care19 Alert, to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by notifying users of possible COVID-19 exposure while protecting their privacy with technology developed by Apple and Google.
Care19 Alert uses Bluetooth proximity technology provided by both Apple and Google notification systems. The app provides proactive alerts and notifications to users based on anonymous keys exchanged between smartphones as users go about their daily activities.
Care19 Alert users will be notified if their device was in proximity of another device whose user tests positive for COVID-19. The app updates daily with positive COVID-19 results submitted by other users, which are then checked against the list of random keys that each device has encountered for more than 15 minutes in the last 14 days.
People who use Care19 Alert must explicitly choose to turn on exposure notifications, and they can turn off the app at any time. The Apple-Google Notification System utilized by the app does not collect, use or store any device location, including for users who report positive results.
Users have the option to decide whether to report a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, and identities are not known to Apple, Google or other app users. The system is only used for exposure notifications by official public health authorities and is not monetized.
The free app is available to download through the App Store and the Google Play Store. For more information, visit ndresponse.gov/covid-19-resources/care19.
Face coverings on campus
A reminder that all students, staff, faculty, affiliates and campus visitors are required to wear face coverings when interacting with others on the VCSU campus. The VCSU Safe Operating Procedures regarding face coverings can be found at onestop.vcsu.edu/support/solutions/articles/10000052288.
Coronavirus updates
Campus coronavirus updates can be found at www.vcsu.edu/coronavirus-information. Here you can find updates with news of positives cases within the campus community, along with information regarding impact to campus activities and facilities. This information will be updated regularly as needed.
There is also a host of resources with detailed information for employees and students on OneStop at onestop.vcsu.edu/support/solutions/folders/10000082374.
What’s happening at VCSU and around Valley City…
Monday, August 24
4-6 p.m. Farmers Market, Rosebud Visitor Center Parking Lot
Tuesday, August 25
Wednesday, August 26
Thursday, August 27
4-6 p.m. Farmers Market, Rosebud Visitor Center Parking Lot
6-9 p.m. Summer Nights on Central with music by Slamabama
Friday, August 28
Saturday, August 29
Sunday, August 30
Monday, August 31
4-6 p.m. Farmers Market, Rosebud Visitor Center Parking Lot
Tuesday, September 1
Wednesday, September 2
Thursday, September 3
4-6 p.m. Farmers Market, Rosebud Visitor Center Parking Lot
Friday, September 4
Saturday, September 5
Viking volleyball vs. Dakota Wesleyan University, home, 9 a.m.
Viking volleyball vs. University of Jamestown, away, 6 p.m.
Sunday, September 6
Viking volleyball vs. Mayville State University, away, noon
Viking volleyball vs. North Dakota State College of Science @ Mayville, 4 p.m.
Visit www.valleycitynd.org/calendar.php to see more events happening in and around Valley City.