In just a few weeks we’ll be celebrating our University’s 53rd Charter Day and recognizing the 69th year of our founding. In those same few weeks, it will be one year since the COVID-19 pandemic and our public health emergency started. It is hard to believe that nearly 12 months have passed.

On behalf of the Board of Regents and our senior administration, I applaud your efforts to continue in our mission Ina, Deskubre, Setbe — of teaching, research, and service. Though we have had to adjust the way we operate, our duties and commitment to our students and our community and to our fellow Tritons has underscored every single one of our decisions.

We’ve seen our island respond amazingly — with record low CAR scores, among the top vaccination rates in the nation, and in respetu and genuine concern for one another’s health.

With the Governor’s declaration of PCOR3 for this week and the lifting of additional restrictions, I want to reiterate my directives on how we’ll continue to operate during this public health emergency. All employees of UOG should follow these two directives to reduce the chances of infection while accomplishing our mission:

1. If a task can be effectively accomplished remotely, it should be accomplished remotely. This means that UOG employees who are able to complete their work remotely, should continue to do so. Administrators must continue to facilitate remote operations and must provide guidelines for employees to remain productive during the regular 40-hour work week.
2. If a task requires face-to-face contact, it should be justifiable. Face-to-Face activities require approval from the respective administrator. 

The scientific miracle of the effective vaccines gives us all great hope that the coronavirus pandemic will end, but we still face many months of continued threat to lives and livelihoods. The vaccines seem to prevent death and serious illness but may not protect us from being infected ourselves or transmitting the virus to others. So, we must maintain our vigilance.

All UOG employees are eligible to receive the vaccine, and I encourage you to schedule an appointment at the Calvo Field House to receive it.

The whole Triton Team has done amazing things to carry on our important mission under these trying circumstances—from front-line work of SOH and GLE to online courses to new digitized procedures to the whole U-PPOP system for allowing relatively safe in-person activity.

Thanks to everyone for this hard and creative work—and for keeping up our procedures that have kept infection rates among UOG personnel among the lowest anywhere.

Please review the following pages for general guidelines for all employees.

Any questions regarding operations during the pandemic can be directed to covidsafety@triton.uog.edu.

Stay up to date with campus advisories during the pandemic at: https://www.uog.edu/covid-19.

Biba UOG and continue to stay safe, Tritons.

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