Welcome Back to the Fall 2022 Semester from the Dean

Welcome Back to the 2022-2023 Academic Year from the Dean
School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences
August 16, 2022

Dear SCMNS faculty, staff and students:

Welcome back to the new academic year of 2022-2023!

With great efforts from various levels of government, the COVID-19 pandemic is somewhat under control, although it is clear that unvaccinated people remain at a very high risk of infection and are disproportionally affected by the virus. Morgan State University has handled the pandemic as well as any university in the country, limiting cases to a minimal number while maintaining some functions and activities on campus.

With strenuous effort and preparation, we are ready begin the new Academic Year with a full return to campus, REQUIRING EVERYONE TO BE VACCINATED. There are several specific issues I would like to clarify and communicate with you.

The Fall Semester begins with the Faculty Institute on August 10, 2022 and School & Department Meetings on August 12, 2022:

The first day of classes is August 22, 2022.

• Classes will be offered in one of three instructional modalities: Morgan-Flex, face-to-face, and online.
• Morgan-Flex courses are offered in technologically enabled classrooms with a live lecture presented to some students present in the classroom while the class is also "livestreamed" on the internet to registered students who choose to attend the class remotely. The lectures will also be recorded for review by students later.
• All laboratory courses for SCMNS majors are offered face-to-face. Special arrangements or circumstances are treated on a case-by-case basis with your department chair.
• Online courses are asynchronous: they do not have regularly scheduled meeting times, but have online lectures and assignments as described in the course syllabus.

Access to offices and research laboratories:

All personnel who have been vaccinated will be premitted appropriate access offices, classrooms, research laboratories, and other spaces on campus. Those not vaccinated who have obtained an approved exemption will be allowed on campus, but under certain restrictions, such as mask-wearing and regular testing. Those neither vaccinated nor exempted will be subject to stronger restrictions. Please refer to the Morgan State University COVID-19 website for details on mask-wearing, testing, and vaccination exemption applications.

Telework for employees:

Starting in the Fall Semester, telework for employees will end. However, due to practices and expertise developed during the pandemic, some partial telework may be permitted per the approval of the employee's supervisor, department chairperson, and dean.