Provost releases spring semester COVID-19 information

Jace+Lux%2C+WKU%E2%80%99s+director+of+media+relations+and+university+spokesperson%2C+explained+that+the+university+looks+both+to+the+CDC+and+its+in-state+peers+to+set+COVID-19+policies.

Debra Murray

Jace Lux, WKU’s director of media relations and university spokesperson, explained that the university looks both to the CDC and its in-state peers to set COVID-19 policies.

Alexandria Anderson, News reporter

WKU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Robert Fischer sent an email to faculty on Thursday, Jan. 13 about spring COVID-19 guidelines and returning to teach in-person this semester.

“I know we are all committed to providing our students with quality academic and co-curricular programs, including in-person engagement, which is a vital component of the WKU educational experience,” Fischer said in the email. “Students and their families see in-person education as a hallmark of WKU and choose courses and develop their academic schedules with this expectation. Thus, our goal entering the spring semester remains to provide the best possible experiences for our students, largely in person, while doing so as safely as we can.”

The email also included a reiteration of guidelines already sent to students, including the mask requirements for transportation and all public indoor spaces, guidelines for contacting the WKU COVID-19 Assistance line for positive cases and close contacts and isolation and quarantine protocols updated from the CDC.

The email explained that faculty who test positive and must quarantine need to contact their department head, chair or director to review all teaching options before switching to temporarily online instruction. 

Options that maintain the in-person teaching environment are preferred, and those suggested included having a colleague or teaching assistant to fill in or teaching with the TA in the classroom while the instructor connects remotely. It says that oftentimes, having the instructor teach remotely while in isolation is identified as the best solution for students.

Testing for COVID-19 will be done at the WKU Graves Gilbert Clinic Health Services center during normal hours Monday through Friday. It will also be open for testing only on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 22, 23, 29 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To make a testing appointment, call 270-745-2273. Walk-ins are available as well but may include wait times. Testing is also done at the Graves Gilbert Primary Clinic on Nashville Road.

The Health Services center is also providing the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine and booster by appointment. To make an appointment, call 270-745-2273. The Graves Gilbert Primary Clinic is also offering the Pfizer vaccine and booster by appointment by calling 270-780-0554. When making these appointments, indicate that you are WKU faculty, staff, a student or family member.

It is asked that members of the WKU community report their vaccination status online at https://app.wku.edu/vaccine/. It now allows submission of booster shot information.

“Our success and our students’ success during these uncertain times is dependent on each of us continuing to act with thoughtfulness towards others and to be adaptable as we continue to adjust to unexpected developments,” Fischer said.

News reporter Alexandria Anderson can be reached at [email protected].