Changes to HFC’s on-campus COVID safety protocols

As we have worked through the coronavirus pandemic these past two years, we have had to make many changes and adjustments. And we have emphasized the continuing importance of supporting each other as we adjust to unpredictable changes.

Thank you for your patience as we have worked through these difficult times.

After consulting with the HFC Cabinet, the COVID Response Team, and our CBU presidents – and evaluating data following our return from Spring Break – we have decided to make changes to our on-campus safety requirements.

Immediate changes

Effective immediately, HFC will:

• Eliminate the daily on-campus health screening form.
• Change our face-mask mandate to apply to classrooms and classroom labs only. This means all students, faculty, and visitors must continue to wear face masks in all classrooms and classroom labs on both HFC campuses until further notice. In all non-classroom/lab campus spaces, face masks will now be optional and will be welcomed for those who choose to wear them.
• Continue asking that everyone social distance, if possible, at their discretion.
• Continue to follow safety protocols, including the following requirements:
  * Notify us of any confirmed cases or known exposures to COVID-19.
  * Stay home if you are sick.
  * Follow our required quarantine and isolation procedures for COVID-19 cases and known exposures.

Here is information about some common questions regarding these changes.

Rationale for these changes

Throughout the pandemic, we at HFC have done our best to follow mandates established by the Centers for Disease Control, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Wayne County Public Health.

As the mandates have been removed and the CDC, MDHHS, and Wayne County have issued new guidance, we have carefully considered their guidance. As we have seen in most public environments in recent months, standards for masking and social distancing have either been reduced or removed. Current guidance from the CDC, MDHHS, and Wayne County is to move to an environment with fewer mandates and more personally-driven safety behaviors.
Our College’s changes listed above are in response to this updated national and local guidance. We also want to be responsive to what our own data is telling us. The reported cases of COVID-19 at HFC have been very low for most of 2022. In fact, since January, about 30 cases were reported among students and only 5 among employees.

If we see significant spikes in on-campus or local cases of COVID-19 in the future, we will convene the COVID-19 Response Team and Cabinet to discuss any needed changes to our on-campus requirements. These teams give us the opportunity to make necessary changes in an agile and collaborative way that includes voices from across the College community.

Upcoming Commencement and Pinning Ceremonies: face masks will be required

Similar to our continuing classroom and classroom lab face mask requirements, our upcoming end-of-semester celebrations will bring together large numbers of people in enclosed spaces for significant periods of time.

For these reasons, we will require face coverings for all students, employees, and guests at our Commencement and Pinning Ceremonies this spring.

At these ceremonies, we will make one exception to the face mask requirement: Students may remove their face mask when they are actively crossing the stage to receive their pin or diploma cover and are having their official photograph taken.

Guidance for faculty regarding student absences, COVID-19 reporting, and clinical experiences

Faculty should continue following your existing policies regarding student absences from your classes due to COVID exposures or confirmed cases.

If any students report to you that they have been exposed to COVID-19 or they have a confirmed case of COVID-19, please remind them that they must personally notify the College of exposures or cases by following the information in this link. As they notify you, they must also notify Munira Kassim in Student Affairs.

Students must continue to follow the on-site COVID-19 safety requirements of any clinical placements they are undertaking as part of their required course of study.

If you as a faculty member become ill or are exposed to COVID-19, please follow the existing process of notifying your associate dean and Tiffany Webster in HR.

Thank you for continuing to help keep our campus community safe and welcoming

I am grateful to each of you for continuing to be good partners and teammates as we move to a new phase in our campus safety protocols.

As we transition to new protocols, please continue to be respectful and welcoming to those around you. Show kindness to others who may make different decisions about whether they wear masks in non-classroom spaces. If you are in a classroom or classroom lab and someone is not wearing a mask, please kindly remind them of this policy when you ask them to put on a mask in the classroom or lab. Signs will be posted that remind everyone on campus of the current safety requirements.

If you have additional questions about our on-campus safety requirements, please visit our Safety First website. Students can contact Munira Kassim at mmkassim@hfcc.edu. Employees can contact Tiffany Webster at tlwebster1@hfcc.edu.

Russ Kavalhuna
HFC President