Dean's Community Message

August 13, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare for the start of the semester in just over a week, I am anticipating with both excitement and nervousness Monday’s return to campus for so many engineering faculty and staff. The opportunity to reconnect beyond Zoom will be truly wonderful, yet this excitement is not without some anxiety because of the Delta variant and rising COVID-19 cases. Across our institution, as is the case across the country and around the world, we know that there are many perspectives about the “right” path forward. One thing is certain: Although we all desperately want to move on from the pandemic, we know that is not yet fully possible and there is work to be done.

As noted in the open letter to the Penn State community from President Barron, the University is pursuing a three-prong strategy to mitigate COVID-19: vaccines, masking, and testing. A key component of that strategy is gathering accurate information on the vaccination status of employees. This data equips University leaders with important information necessary to help us return to a supportive work environment that is as safe as possible.

If you have not uploaded your vaccination status, please do so by Wednesday, August 18, using the Salesforce Health Cloud platform. If you have already uploaded your vaccination status, thank you! You can also look up your status via the Salesforce Health Cloud.

In the very near future, the University will implement new testing protocols for employees. Details on these protocols will be announced soon. However, at minimum, Penn State employees who do not share with the University that they are fully vaccinated on the Salesforce Healthcloud platform will be required to receive a COVID-19 test. Technical services employees and other represented employees should check their applicable collective bargaining agreement and work rules for the requirements applicable to them. In order to be omitted from testing, you will need to provide your vaccination status as soon as possible. Please look out for more information on the University’s fall testing protocols on Penn State News.

You can always reach out to me at dean@engr.psu.edu or the college’s COVID team at L-COE_CORONA_CRISIS_TEAM@engr.psu.edu with any questions, comments, and concerns. Additionally, you can also contact the Penn State COVID-19 Response Center at 814-865-2121 or submit an online contact form. For technology related questions, please submit a question to Service-now.

All the best,

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering