University of North Carolina, Wilmington issued the following announcement on Aug. 20.
August is an exciting, busy month for UNCW and college campuses across the country. As we welcome new and returning members of the campus community, we must be mindful of not only current COVID-19 health and safety protocols, but overall personal and campus safety. Please take time to review the information, guidelines and resources outlined below:
Face Coverings, Surveillance Testing, Vaccines
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to get vaccinated, please do so. Vaccines are available for free on campus via the Student Health Center. As a reminder, unvaccinated residential students, face-to-face students who reside off-campus, faculty and staff will be required to participate in weekly surveillance testing beginning Aug. 23. Students, staff and faculty who present proof of vaccination are not subject to weekly surveillance testing. Please adhere to UNCW’s face covering requirements, outlined here. When attending off-campus events and activities, please follow local requirements regarding face coverings and other safety measures. Make good choices for yourself and our community.
LiveSafe
As part of UNCW’s continuous commitment to enhancing campus safety, the UNCW Police Department has a partnership with LiveSafe and recommends students download and use the safety app. LiveSafe, a mobile-friendly security app, provides convenient access to several safety features. Please visit the LiveSafe webpage to download the app if you haven’t already and to access FAQs.
UNCW has made great strides in enhancing its ability to respond to the threat of an active attacker on campus. In addition to mandatory active attacker training for faculty and staff, we have additional resources available on the University Police Department’s Active Attacker preparedness webpage. In the spring, the Office of Facilities completed a safety initiative to update approximately 350 classroom doors on campus and at the Center for Marine Science with high security “indicator” locks. The indicators allow occupants of a room to quickly secure the room during a lockdown.
UPD partners with the Wilmington Police Department to address areas of concern such as loud parties and underage drinking in the neighborhoods bordering the university. We ask all students to represent the university in a positive way and be a good neighbor. Please take a moment to review general safety tips here.
Storm Ready
UNCW is committed to year-round preparation for tropical weather systems and other emergencies. As we are in the midst of the 2021 hurricane season (June 1-Nov. 30), UNCW’s Environmental Health and Safety Department encourages all students and employees to have personal preparedness plans and be aware of emergency procedures and campus communications offerings. Please review this list of UNCW’s emergency information channels. University officials work throughout the year to keep UNCW aligned with federally compliant hurricane procedures and the campus community informed of delays, closings and other weather-related information.
Information Security
With more happening online these days, we must do everything we can to protect ourselves and our campus from security incidents. UNCW ITS Security has multiple resources to assist everyone to be safe online.
Faculty and staff have access to additional Security Awareness Training. This training portal maintains up-to-date security training to help you understand the role you play to help defend campus from breaches.
Campus Wellness
UNCW has numerous resources to assist with mental health support, work/life balance and stress management.
The Employee Assistance Program is an excellent source of emotional wellness, mental health and resilience resources, which we encourage all employees to utilize.
The UNCW Counseling Center offers free services for all currently enrolled students. Located in DePaolo Hall, the center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and provides virtual counseling services as well as in-person emergency services.
Let’s continue to be vigilant about our health and safety and welcome this new semester with renewed hope and energy.
Original source can be found here.
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