I hope you are staying safe and well. We are a little over two weeks from May 4, when Governor Charlie Baker’s stay at home advisory is currently scheduled to expire. We expect Governor Baker to announce within a week of this date whether the advisory and other cancellations will be extended. I realize this leaves much uncertainty, especially as it relates to remote work. There are a few items of which I can assure you:
- We will follow the Governor’s lead with respect to the stay at home advisory and will take any additional steps that we deem necessary to protect the health and welfare of our campus community.
- If Governor Baker closes K-12 schools for the remainder of the K-12 academic year, then Salem State will extend remote work accordingly.
- Human resources is putting together a working group to consider what the eventual return to work will look like. This group will consider the potential need for adjustments when we return, such as a possible need to limit the number of people within workspaces at a time.
I know that your lives and schedules have been upended. For many of us, returning to something that resembles the previous routine will be a family affair. We will be considerate of this, as well as the unfortunate reality that members of our campus community may have experienced the worst impact of this virus, either having been ill themselves or experienced the loss of a family member or friend.
Thank you for continuing to support our students and one another. I will share more information as it becomes available.
Sincerely,
John D. Keenan
President