Thank you to everyone who has made our fall start and these early weeks in the quarter successful. As you know the county is in the Orange tier and that allows the college to open more operations. As always, this is being done in a safe, measured and responsible manner, always maintaining compliance and ensuring all members of the community are aware of and follow the requirements to wear masks on campus, maintain social distance, wash hands frequently, and look out for others in a responsible manner.
Items that are reopening are study areas, the Learning Commons (library), cafe, clubs and athletics training. In all these areas adaptations have been made on campus to ensure all of our safety and health as the Fall Quarter continues. The Fitness Center will remain closed for the time being as we work through compliance logistics with regard to the use of that space.
Cafe Indoor Dining Open: Alameda County has allowed indoor dining at limited capacity. The Cafe au Life indoor dining table area is now open with 26 seats for student and employee use. The cafe patio is open with 24 seats. Cafe hours are 9 am – 2 pm. Mask use is mandatory, social distancing must be maintained, and all tables must be sanitized and wiped with provided supplies prior to use by all users. The carpeted area at the rear of the cafe remains for Clinic Intern use only. All cafe spaces will be monitored by Security for tables and chairs not in correct placement, mask use and social distance compliance.
Study Rooms: Rooms 128 and 129 are now open for individual study space. Capacity has been set at 23 seats in Room 128 and 21 seats in Room 129. Use is on a first come, first served basis and limited to two-hour blocks. Every two hours, all students will need to leave the rooms to allow them to be refreshed and to allow other students access to the seats. The rooms are open on the following schedule:
- 7 – 9 am, 9:30 – 11:30 am, 12 – 2 pm, 2:30 – 4:30 pm, 5 – 7 pm
Room rules are written onto the whiteboards in each room. All desks have an X marked on the ground under them and cannot be moved from this mark. All desks must be sprayed and wiped with provided supplies by each new user of that desk. At all times masks must be worn and students must maintain social distance. These rooms are for quiet study so noise must be kept to a minimum. The room is being monitored by Security for desks not in correct placement, mask use and social distance compliance.
Learning Commons: Alameda County has allowed library indoor use at limited capacity. The college will take a cautious approach and is opening the Learning Commons open seating area to 50 students. From Monday, Nov. 2 (Week 5), the Learning Commons hours are 9 am – 5 pm, Monday through Friday. An online reservation system will be available through the Learning Commons (library) webpage. An email from the OAA on Friday, Oct. 30, will provide additional information on the reservation system. Please watch out for this email. Reservations are accepted one day in advance and for the next day only, and are for 1-hour intervals with a 2-hour maximum stay. Reservations will be for an individual seat at a table, a soft chair, a cubicle, or a computer workstation. Printers will be available connected to the computer workstations. Students will need to present your student ID at the library entrance to confirm your reservation. A waitlist (name and cellphone) is also available at the entrance for notification if a seat becomes available. Reservations are held for 15 minutes, after which the unused seat (reservation) will become available for an individual on the waitlist. Those students who do not show up for their reservations five times in the quarter will only be allowed to reserve a seat on a waitlist-only basis. As with other spaces, all students need to wear a mask while studying, maintain social distance from others, self-clean their chair and workspace with provided supplies before use, and not move seat/table from designated space. Circulation/borrowing of library items will continue; however, the book/journal stacks are closed for browsing. Library staff can retrieve items in those collections as requested. Group study rooms will open at a later date. Library staff will be monitoring compliance with these rules.
Club Use of Rooms: Student Clubs and Organizations may now use designated classrooms and campus spaces for official club/organization activities. The designated spaces will be advised to clubs through Mimi in Student Life separately. Each club/organization must reserve designated rooms through FMX at least one week in advance after checking the availability with Mimi. Students may not promote their meeting/event prior to the completion of all reservations and pertinent paperwork. Students may not exceed the designated room capacity for the reserved space. All furniture must remain in place and not be moved. All furniture needs to be sanitized prior to the start of the event or meeting using the equipment provided by the college. As always masks must be worn at all times and social distance must be maintained. Use of the room is limited to three periods through the day: 9:20 – 9:50 am, 11:40 am – 1 pm, and 5 -7 pm. Earlier access needs to be on a case by case basis through Mimi, who will collaborate with administration to facilitate access to the building. These rooms will be monitored by Security for desks not in correct placement, mask use and social distance compliance. Clubs/Organizations that do not comply with these guidelines forfeit their access to meet on campus for the remainder of the quarter.
Athletics Training: Rugby scholarship students will be able to recommence limited training under the county rules. This will be restricted training activity one night per week, with numbers limited to 12 and masks required at all times. All equipment, resources and supplies required will be sanitized before use. Training will start next week. Please contact Adriaan Ferris, Athletics Director, for more information.
OAA Student Update: Look out for the emails from OAA detailing all arrangements for your access, schedules, and more. Remember:
- Stay home if you are sick or have any change to the responses on the pre-screening form
- Always wear a face covering on campus
- Always try to maintain 6’ social distance
- Wash hands and don’t touch your face
- Keep furniture (tables and chairs) where they are in class – they have been distanced to stay compliant with County rules
- Sanitize your table/chair before you use it
- Only use the Student Entrance to access campus
- Do not let others through campus side doors
- Access the Health Center only through the HC Entrance and not down the internal hallway
- Admin and staff offices are accessible only with prior appointments
Employee Update: We have moved to Phase 3 of our LCCW Reintegration Plan. In maintaining a safe and healthy work environment and compliance with OSHA/Cal-OSHA, CDC and current health orders, all employees are required to comply with the following:
- Conduct self-health assessment prior to leaving home
- If you have never completed the Health Screening Questionnaire, please complete the health pre-screening questionnaire and make sure you have been cleared, prior to coming on campus
- Enter only through the front and back doors onto campus
- Stay home if you are sick or have any change to the responses on the pre-screening form
- Always wear a face covering on campus unless you are in your office alone. This includes working in a cubical or in an open space. A face mask is required under a face shield (exception: Faculty that have a face shield with a drape)
- Keep a minimum of 6’ ft social distance at all times
- Clean and disinfect the work area and office equipment/supplies using the sanitizer stations through the campus
- Frequently wash hands with soap and water for over 20 seconds
- Avoid shared materials and equipment (shared microwaves have been removed and refrigerators have been locked closed)
- Additional guidance, training, and tips are available at www.cdc.com or via Paycom
COVID-19 Care Packages: The college is distributing COVID-19 Care Packages to all employees. These include hand sanitizer, face masks and wristbands, along with safety tips on how to protect yourself on and off campus. If you have not received your package, please contact Stacy Huber (front desk) or Julie Truong (HR).
New COVID-19 Laws: A new law (AB 685) will take effect on Jan. 1, 2021, and will expire on Jan. 1, 2022. Under the new law, if the college receives a notice of potential exposure to COVID-19, the college must within one day provide written notice to all employees and subcontracted employees who were at the same worksite within the “infectious period.” The notice must contain information about what COVID-19 related benefits the employee is entitled to under federal, state, and local laws, and the employer’s disinfection and safety plan. For more information, please visit: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB685.
If you have any questions or feedback you would like to share, please email us at taskforce@lifewest.edu.