Over the last few weeks, you may have noticed new signs on campus asking you to “practice safe six” and to “mask for a friend.” I hope these made you smile, but more importantly, I hope they reminded you to follow our campus guidelines and wear a mask inside buildings and stay six feet apart from others. The entire country is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, and we’re experiencing a similar increase in Montgomery County and on campus. As of today, we have four staff members and 25 students testing positive for the new coronavirus, and we have 169 individuals – our highest number to date – in quarantine.

We only have 10 weekdays left until Thanksgiving, when we pivot to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Please make sure you’re doing your part by following our guidelines so we can bring on-ground instruction at the Clarksville campus to a successful end.

The University continues to operate under a “Moderate Risk” level, which means campus offices and departments remain open in a reduced capacity. Many of our faculty and staff are alternating between working remotely and working on campus, and we’re encouraging everyone to avoid in-person meetings as much as possible. A full description of our risk level is available at https://www.apsu.edu/coronavirus/Moderate-Risk.pdf.

Recently, some of you have asked if we expect any major disruptions, such as pivoting to fully online, for the spring semester. Today, our plan is to offer on-ground, hybrid and online classes, just as we did this semester, but we simply don’t know what will happen in the coming months. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may issue new guidelines, and federal or local leaders might enact new mandates. Because of this uncertainty, I recommend everyone follow the advice I was once given – “Don’t borrow tomorrow’s troubles today.” We don’t need to burden ourselves emotionally with tomorrow’s challenges. Please know that if I receive more information about spring, I will share it with all of you.

During my social media town hall yesterday, I discussed the University’s United Way campaign, which has a goal of raising $15,000 this year. Visit http://www.apsu.edu/unitedway for more information. I also talked about Student Affairs’ wonderful Help an Elf program, which provides holiday gifts to the children of APSU students who are income eligible. Information on that program is available at https://www.apsu.edu/student-affairs/help-an-elf/.

If you missed Wednesday’s social media town hall, you can watch it below.

November 11, 2020 Town Hall with Interim President Whiteside

As I mentioned earlier, we're only 10 weekdays away from Thanksgiving. Please use that time to practice "safe six" and "mask for others" to help keep our campus community safe.

Dannelle Whiteside

Interim President