H1N1 Vital Information
September 2009
Dear Faculty:
As exciting as the start of a new academic year is to all of us, we also must be mindful of something that is bound to affect our campuses during the 2009-10 academic year – the H1N1 flu virus. So we can be fully prepared to handle whatever may come our way, I have worked with a representative from the pandemic flu committee, members of the president’s council and the Department of Marketing and Communications (CCRI’s liaison to the RI Department of Health) to draft the attached recommendations regarding H1N1 flu from the academic affairs perspective.
The attached document outlines what is expected of faculty and students should there be an outbreak on one or all of CCRI’s campuses. A few of the critical messages that you will see in these recommendations include that anyone with flu-like symptoms is encouraged to stay home to help prevent the spread of the illness, flexibility is the key to a successful academic year and students should not be penalized for missing classes, exams, etc., if experiencing a flu-like illness. Additional recommendations include advanced planning for handling an outbreak in your class and notifying students of their responsibilities to complete their coursework. Conversely, should you come down with H1N1, you still have a responsibility for ensuring students have all the information and instruction they need to complete their coursework in the appropriate time frame.
The college will also be providing H1N1 recommendations to students. It is important for our entire community to have as much information about H1N1 as possible.
Please feel free to contact me or your department chair should you have any further questions or concerns about the H1N1 virus. A special e-mail address has been created specifically for H1N1 flu inquiries – [email protected]. Additional resources about H1N1 can be found at www.ccri.edu, www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/,http://www.health.ri.gov/news/flu/ and www.flu.gov.
I wish you the best for a successful semester!
Sincerely,
Lela Morgan
Vice President for Academic Affairs
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