Chief of Staff and Dean of Operations Chris Hart sent the following message to the campus community on Monday, Aug. 30, 2021:

Dear Spalding Community,

We are happy to announce that Wild Health will host a COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic on campus this Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. in the College Street Center Ballroom, 812 S. 2nd St.

The Pfizer vaccine, which recently gained full FDA approval is being offered free of charge to individuals ages 12 and older by appointment only. Individuals under 18 must have permission from a parent or guardian to be vaccinated.

Schedule your appointment by clicking here: https://kyvax.wildhealth.com/

Select “Spalding University COVID-19 Vaccine” to choose from the available appointment times.

What: COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
When: Thursday, September 2, 3:30 pm-6:30pm
Where: College Center Ballroom, 812 S. 2nd St., 3rd Floor

If you have any questions about this vaccine clinic or scheduling, please contact the Wild Health Help Desk: (859) 217-4679.

Thank you for continuing to do your part to keep our campus healthy and safe.

Christopher B. Hart, M.Ed.
Chief of Staff and Dean of Operations

Spalding President Tori Murden McClure sent the following message to Spalding students, faculty and staff on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021.

Dear Spalding Community,

We can’t wait to kick off the fall semester on Monday.

It has been exciting to have our new first-year students on campus this week for Engage, and by this weekend, all of our new and returning residential students will be moved in. Then on Monday, for the first time in 18 months, the majority of our classes will once again be held in person.

Our faculty and staff who were working remotely throughout the pandemic are back in the office as well, and in-person services and office hours are available for academic and student services departments across campus.

It is a momentous time as the depth of conversations and the joy of events and activities that can only be achieved in face-to-face settings – and that are key to the university experience – are restored on a broad scale.

As we prepare to reunite fully next week, I ask everyone to commit to doing their part to maintain a safe and healthy campus. The cooperation and responsible behavior of all students, faculty and staff is critical to get through the surge caused by the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Please review our Healthy Together at Spalding webpages, including the information on procedures for if you have been exposed to COVID-19. Students, please make sure to review this message from Dean of Students Janelle Rae from Monday, Aug. 16.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

When you arrive on campus on Monday, please remember that a face covering is required for all individuals in all indoor settings, except for your own residence hall room or private office or whenever you are eating. I do not intend to mandate masks any longer than is necessary this year, but it is absolutely necessary right now with Delta cases on the rise.

In addition, I urge you, if you have not already, get vaccinated for COVID-19! The vaccines are safe, free and easily accessible, and the data couldn’t be clearer that they work.

From March 1 to Aug. 16, 2021, 86.8 percent of COVID-19 cases and 90.5 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Kentucky were among partially vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals, according to the Governor’s Office.

We are planning an on-campus vaccine clinic the week of Aug. 29, with more information to follow.

We also plan to implement mandatory on-campus testing for COVID-19 for unvaccinated employees and those students in high contact and congregate settings such as athletes and residents who have not been vaccinated.

UPCOMING EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

I am excited that once again, a full slate of events and activities will be taking place on campus, with many planned around the start of the fall semester. These are fun, meaningful and safe, and please plan to attend as many as you can. Thank you to the dozens of folks who have worked hard to organize these special events.

* Mon.-Sat., Aug. 23-28: Welcome Week – A wide variety of mixers, meet-and-greets, games, informational sessions, and athletic events all across campus. Check out the full Welcome Week schedule here, and here is a Facebook event for the entire schedule.

* Mon., Aug. 23: WDJX Campus Crash, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Mother Catherine Square – Stop by as 99.7 WDJX broadcasts live from campus on the first day of classes. There will be tents set up with free Spalding T-shirts and masks, snacks and other prizes.

* Thurs., Aug. 26: Convocation, 10-11 a.m., Columbia Gym Auditorium and online – This traditional event welcomes our community to all of the excitement a new academic year brings and inspires us to live into our mission. Louisville Urban League President Sadiqa Reynolds will deliver our keynote, and I will distribute a mission coin to each new Spalding student. All new students are encouraged to attend in person. All others are encouraged to join virtually, with the link to do so in your Wednesday, Aug. 18 email from Dean Tomarra Adams.

* Sat., Aug. 28: Eagle Fest, 6-10 p.m., Trager Park – Our inaugural fall free concert is our biggest welcome-back event of the week. Joslyn and the Sweet Compression and DJ Alli will perform, and there will be food trucks, giveaways and vendors. The Student Involvement Fair, with information on campus clubs and activities, will be held on site. Arrive early for a free T-shirt. Families are welcome.

This is an exciting time for our campus, and we are set for another tremendous year at Spalding. Please mask up, get a vaccine and pledge to do what it takes to keep yourself and our campus community safe. I can’t wait for us to work and learn together and to have a lot fun along the way.

See you Monday!

Tori

Tori Murden McClure
Spalding University President

Spalding President Tori Murden McClure said the following message to students on Friday, July 30, 2021:

Dear Spalding Students,

I hope you are having a great summer. We miss seeing you on campus and can’t wait to have you back in just a few weeks.

As we prepare campus for everyone’s safe return, it is clear that the Delta variant of the coronavirus has led to a significant rise in positive cases of COVID-19 locally and nationally, and it is proof that this pandemic continues to present significant challenges.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Spalding has prioritized the health and safety of our campus community and adjusted our practices as needed to protect our faculty, staff and students. The current risk of the Delta variant requires action on our part.

Effective Monday, Aug. 2, face coverings will once again be REQUIRED on campus in indoor settings for ALL individuals, regardless of vaccination status. This includes students, faculty, staff and visitors. The only exceptions will be when individuals are alone in their private offices or residence-hall rooms or while eating in the College Street Café or a campus lounge/breakroom.

I hope and foresee this mask requirement to be a temporary measure. But at this time, a mask requirement for everyone is an easy step that will provide consistency, clarity and, most importantly, protection for the campus community during a critical moment in the pandemic. The amazing cooperation and masking compliance we achieved last academic year were undoubtedly key contributors to our low number of positive cases on campus.

Thankfully, we all have safe, free, easy access to a powerful safeguard against infection and severe illness: the COVID-19 vaccines. About 97 percent of people in the country who are hospitalized for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. If you have not been vaccinated, Spalding strongly encourages you to get your shots now in order to be fully vaccinated by the time fall classes start on Aug. 23.

The health and safety of our community will remain our top priority, and we will continue to adjust as needed to keep everyone safe.

From now until your return to campus, have fun, stay safe, wear a mask, and, if you have not already, please get vaccinated. We miss you, we are proud of you, and we will see you soon.

Thank you,

Tori

Tori Murden McClure,
Spalding University President

Spalding University President Tori Murden McClure sent the following message to the campus community on June 25, 2021:

Dear Spalding Community,

Thank you for your cooperation in helping us achieve a safe and successful 2020-21 academic year amid the challenges of COVID-19.

The teamwork of the campus in implementing and complying with our health and safety protocols can’t be commended enough, and our faculty and students exhibited tremendous adaptability in delivering and completing an abundance of classes in a remote format. Additionally, much of our campus community has taken the safe, responsible step of getting vaccinated for COVID-19.

In these ways, Spalding has played its part in helping our community stay safe. The pandemic certainly isn’t over, but the promising decrease in COVID-19 cases locally and nationally and the increase in vaccinations have positioned us to transition safely to campus operations in 2021-22 that will much more closely resemble pre-pandemic life.

We believe that a vibrant campus with rich in-person learning is essential to the college experience at Spalding, and we look forward to a return to that engaging environment.

Starting this fall, we expect that nearly all classes that were moved from in-person to a remote format due to the pandemic will return to a face-to-face setting.

Here are other changes and updates in policies and protocols, effective July 1. All are subject to change.

Masking

● After June 30, Spalding’s indoor mask mandate will be lifted for individuals who have been vaccinated for COVID-19.

● If you are not fully vaccinated, continue to wear a mask and practice physical distancing in all public, indoor settings on campus. Unvaccinated individuals should follow prevailing CDC guidelines for preventing illness and the spread of the virus.

● Any vaccinated individual who prefers to wear a mask in any setting will be welcome to do so. Even though masks won’t be required for all, it would be appropriate to continue carrying and wearing a mask as a courtesy to others who may feel more comfortable with having people wear them in close quarters.

● Hand sanitizer dispensers installed across campus during the past 15 months will remain in place. Regardless of your vaccination status, please continue to use them regularly as well as practicing frequent, thorough hand-washing throughout the day.

Vaccines

● At this time, COVID-19 vaccines are not mandated for any member of the Spalding community, but they are strongly encouraged. Please get vaccinated! The university is reviewing whether or not to require vaccines and will notify the campus community if a change in policy takes place.

● If a student has any questions about the safety or efficacy of vaccines or is unsure where to get a shot, please contact the Eagle Care Health Clinic at [email protected]. Information on vaccine sites near your area can be found at vaccines.gov.

Room configurations/capacity

● Offices and classrooms will return to normal configurations, in accordance with CDC and state and local guidelines.

● Capacity for on-campus events will return to their pre-pandemic levels.

● Full fan capacity at athletics events will also return, unless otherwise mandated by our conference.

● The College Street Café dining hall will operate at normal capacity.

On-campus housing

● Residence hall rooms may return to double-occupancy.

● Isolation facilities will continue to be utilized as needed.

Daily health assessment

● At this time, we will continue to require all students, staff, faculty and visitors to complete and pass the #CampusClear daily health assessment before coming to campus each day. In the instances in which we have had positive cases within our campus community, we have found #CampusClear to be an effective method for individuals to notify the university. You can learn more about #CampusClear and access links to download the app here.

● Regardless of vaccination status, any individual who is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should not come to campus.

Spalding will continue to abide by federal, state and local guidelines, and any of the above policies are subject to change based on the state of the pandemic.

This is a time of tremendous hope for our campus and our country, and, again, the best way to ensure the safety of yourself, your loved ones and our university community is to get vaccinated.

Enjoy a great, safe summer. We can’t wait to see everyone on campus in August.

All the best,

Tori

Tori Murden McClure
President, Spalding University

Spalding President Tori Murden McClure sent the following message to the campus community on Tuesday, May 20, 2021:

Dear Spalding Community,

You have likely seen that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its COVID-19 guidance last week, declaring that it is now safe for fully vaccinated individuals to stop wearing masks indoors and outdoors. Governor Beshear has also amended the Kentucky mask mandate, which now no longer requires fully vaccinated people to wear a mask.

While it is extremely encouraging to see the decline in COVID-19 cases and the increase in people who have received vaccines, we have decided that Spalding University will maintain its mask policy as-is through the remainder of the 2020-21 academic year. That means that through June 30, 2021, all students, employees and visitors must continue to wear a mask at all times while indoors on campus, except for when they are in individual offices or residential rooms, or when seated and eating at the College Street Café’. As of May 18, 2021, about 36 percent of Kentuckians are fully vaccinated. That is good progress, but it also means that nearly two-thirds of our population is not yet vaccinated. With this in mind, it feels appropriate and responsible that we continue our masking policy, especially during Commencement, which will be, by far, our largest set of indoor gatherings of the year.

Masks and social distancing will be required for all attendees at our upcoming Commencement ceremonies, June 3-5. Graduates, please remind your guests that they will need to wear a mask before they go inside a campus building, regardless of their vaccination status. Free “Spalding Graduate” masks will be distributed to the graduates, and other free masks will be available for guests.

Continuing our consistent, standard policy with everyone in masks will be the safest, easiest way to hold class and interact on campus. Further, maintaining the status quo on our masking policy will eliminate the burden – and any anxieties – on our faculty and staff in having to check every day who is or is not truly vaccinated and who is or is not allowed to go without a mask.

Spalding has been successful in having a low number of COVID-19 cases this year, and we believe that the 100 percent compliance that we have achieved in our masking policy is a big reason why. We can’t thank our students, faculty and staff enough for their cooperation in wearing masks without complaint. It’s been an amazing group effort.

We are, of course, all eager to get back to a more normal way of life, and we are excited to return to holding a majority of our classes in person next fall. Spalding will review our masking policy this summer. It is my sincere hope that the vast majority of the campus community will be vaccinated and that we will be able to set aside our masks in the coming year. We encourage you and your loved ones to get vaccinated for COVID-19. The vaccines are free and easily accessible and have been proven to be safe and highly effective. Anyone 12 and older is now eligible for a vaccine in Kentucky.

Thanks again for your cooperation and willingness to work together.

All the best,

Tori

Tori Murden McClure
Spalding University President

Spalding University President Tori Murden McClure sent the following message to the campus community on Monday, March, 29, 2021:

Dear Spalding Community,

What a year it has been. I am extremely grateful for your dedication, cooperation, and fortitude as we endured the past twelve months. Last week, we announced that we will have a series of in-person Commencement ceremonies in June. I know many of you are wondering what our classes and campus operations will look like in Fall 2021.

Thanks to the increasing availability of highly effective vaccines, I am pleased to say that Spalding University plans to have the majority of its classes in-person next fall. By early August, I expect that most of the faculty and staff will return to our offices for the majority of the work week. The year has taught me, that Spalding University is not housed in buildings. It exists in the minds and the hearts of our students, staff, and faculty. Nonetheless, the University thrives when we are together. Kindness blooms. Friendships grow. We cultivate gratitude and respect toward one another. We challenge one other to live with courage and with integrity in our ever changing world.

As we reimagine how we work and study together, I hope we will consciously rearrange our spaces to foster collaboration, innovation, and healthy human interaction. I attribute much of our success in the last twelve months to our having built a strong and supportive mission-driven culture prior to the start of the pandemic. In recent weeks, I have noticed a diminution of our cohesion. When we lose touch with one another, it is more difficult to live and breathe the mission of Spalding. In our mostly virtual year, there has been less spontaneity, less humanity, and less fun. There is a great deal of learning, coaching, and mentoring that happens in all directions when we are together.

Many of us will benefit from increasing our work-life or school-life separation. This year, we have not been working from home so much as living at work. Without the natural boundaries of space and time, it has been difficult to turn-off, to relax, to spend time with family or friends without unfinished work intruding on our thoughts and leaving us with a breathless hunted feeling.

I am excited. I have missed the brainstorming and raucous good cheer that happens over lunch in the Spalding Café. I look forward to quicker communication and fewer misunderstandings as we return to being able to speak to one another in person. New and continuing students will begin class registration on April 12. All students are encouraged to speak with their advisors about their classroom needs and to make the course selections that best meet their goals and academic program requirements.

To ensure that next school year is as safe and successful as possible, we strongly encourage each of you to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible. Governor Beshear announced last week that he expects all Kentuckians 16 years and older to be able to sign up for vaccines starting April 12. Let’s continue to work together to finish this year safely. Please get vaccinated when you can. Greater days are ahead.

All the best,

Tori

Tori Murden McClure
President, Spalding University

Dear Spalding Community,

As we head toward the end of the academic session, I would like to continue to thank all of our students, faculty and staff for your resilience and dedication so far this year. I can’t commend our students enough for your cooperation, graciousness and flexibility in helping to keep our campus safe and healthy while staying on top of your academics.

The hard work of everyone is appreciated, and the upcoming session break and Thanksgiving holiday will be a welcomed chance to relax. I hope everyone has a truly restful holiday.

Sadly, however, as we begin the holidays, this pandemic persists, and our country has seen an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases.

Over Thanksgiving, I urge you to please take every precaution to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe and well. Carefully weigh the risks of travel, of going out to a mall or restaurant, of socializing with multiple households. Gov. Beshear on Wednesday issued new public health measures to slow the spread of the virus. Please take heed of those guidelines, and continue to follow the news to see what other actions government officials may take.

Remember also to abide by the tenets of the Spalding Promise that we all signed at the start of the year and which still applies during the break. We have all committed to:

Avoid large gatherings and parties.
Wear a mask at all times when indoors, or when in groups outdoors.
Practice social distancing at all times.

When classes resume on Nov. 30, we must be more diligent than ever to work together in keeping campus safe and healthy.

Students, keep in mind that every in-person class will be streamed, in case you want or need to participate online. This may be a wise option for many.

Additionally, students, employees and visitors must continue to complete the #CampusClear self-assessment before coming to campus.

The recent news about the development of vaccines is very promising. We have come this far, so let’s continue to work together to get through this, especially at this critical time.

I am thankful for all of you and for the privilege of serving this institution.

Have a great, safe and restful break, and Happy Thanksgiving. You deserve it.

All the best,

Tori Murden McClure

Spalding University President

As part of our comprehensive strategy for controlling the spread of COVID-19 on Spalding University’s campus, we are deploying #CampusClear, a daily self-screening app and campus “FastPass.” Everyone in our learning community is required to use #CampusClear to gain access to buildings on campus.

Additionally, the University is asking all members of the campus-students, faculty and staff-to acknowledge the Spalding Promise – a social compact in which we vow to approach this academic year responsibly and cooperatively for the safety and care of ourselves, our fellow Spalding community members and our greater community.

You can view and acknowledge the Spalding Promise on the Spalding Portal or at https://selfservice.spalding.edu/Student/Agreements. This link requires you to log in with your Spalding username and password.

To get started using the #CampusClear app, download the app. Here are the links:

Apple App Store
Google Play

Please make sure you enable notifications from the app. There will only be one notification each day to prompt you to take the self-screening survey. Once you’ve downloaded #CampusClear, log in by entering your institutional email address. You’ll receive an email confirmation, and after clicking the confirmation link, you’ll have access to the app. Visitors will need to enter a phone number to receive the confirmation link.

It only takes a few seconds to self-screen, and your participation helps to keep our campus safe for everyone. Likewise, please be sure to self-screen daily, even if you have no symptoms. Thank you for your cooperation and participation in doing all that we can to make sure we have a safe return to campus.

MORE HEALTHY TOGETHER AT SPALDING RESOURCES
Healthy Together home page
Return to Campus plan
Health and Wellness