COVID Procedures for CMC Employees and Students

TO: CMC Community
FROM: Matt Gianneschi, Chief Operating Officer
CC: Carrie Hauser, President
DATE: August 20, 2021
RE: COVID Procedures for CMC Employees and Students

The purpose of this memo is to provide the CMC community with general guidance regarding the college’s COVID protocols and related activities.

Masking Procedures. Effective Monday, August 23, 2021, face coverings will be required for all individuals entering CMC buildings. Though college leadership will revisit this procedure in light of prevailing public health guidance on or about Labor Day, the following procedures will be observed until further notice:

• Face coverings will be required for all, regardless of vaccine status, when in shared indoor campus environments.

• Physical distancing will not be required except when necessary to address actual or potential infections.
• Masks may be removed when in a private office or residence hall room, or when eating or drinking.

• • Outside groups (non-CMC) that use CMC rooms for their meetings or events must wear face coverings when in public spaces such as hallways or restrooms, but may follow prevailing county health guidelines when in a room closed to the public.

• Masks will be optional when outdoors.

• • Instructors that choose to teach courses outside may do so without face coverings.

• Persons with medical conditions that prevent them from wearing masks should contact the campus disability coordinator (for students) or Human Resources (for employees) to discuss the process for verifying the condition and identifying potential accommodations.

• Note: The college is exploring the efficacy of alternative approaches, such as allowing fully vaccinated instructors to remove their masks while maintaining a certain distance from students, but these have not yet been established.

Symptom Monitoring and COVID Testing. Anyone exhibiting symptoms of COVID—fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea—is expected to STAY HOME and get tested!

To assist those with limited health care options or those who cannot access one of the many free testing sites, the college will pay for COVID-19 testing for faculty, staff, and enrolled students needing this service in order to return to work or the classroom.

• Students seeking a reimbursement for COVID-19 testing should submit a copy of their itemized invoice/receipt to payments@coloradomtn.edu.
• Faculty and staff seeking a reimbursement for COVID-19 testing should follow the college’s expense reimbursement process, which also requires an itemized invoice/receipt.

Quarantine and Isolation Procedures. In cases of known or suspected exposure, Colorado Mountain College will follow the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) quarantine guidance. This guidance is as follows:

Quarantine:

• Vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine after being exposed to someone with COVID-19; however, they should get a COVID-19 test three to five days after exposure and wear a mask in public for 14 days after exposure or until they have a negative test result.

• • If they develop any symptoms of COVID-19 in the 14 days after exposure, they should get tested, even if they had a negative test previously.

• Unvaccinated individuals who have had close contact with individuals testing positive for COVID-19 should stay home in quarantine 10 days (without testing) or 7 days with a negative test result (test must occur on day 5 or later).

Isolation:

• According to CDPHE isolation guidance, anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or who tests positive for COVID-19—vaccinated or unvaccinated—must remain home and isolate (stay away from others) for 10 days since symptoms first appeared or as otherwise directed by county public health officials. After the 10-day isolation, individuals can return to CMC facilities if they have had no fever for at least 24 hours (without using medicine that reduces fevers) and symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved).

Contact Tracing. The college will cooperate with and assist county public health officials in contact tracing in order to notify known close-contacts of the potential COVID-19 exposure.

Vaccine Clinics and Marketing. All CMC campuses will host vaccination clinics during the first week of classes, either on campus or in their communities. These clinics will be open to all and publicized on the CMC Trail Map site. We hope that the convenience of receiving a vaccine on campus will encourage others to protect themselves, their neighbors, and their classmates.

Additionally, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is offering $100 gift cards to WalMart for all individuals who receive a vaccine as part of the Comeback Cash Gift Card Giveaway. Dates and locations for these events can be found on the CDPHE website (https://covid19.colorado.gov/coloradocomebackcash).

Student and Employee Conduct. Employees and students are expected to adhere to the procedures outlined in this document. Individuals observing incidents in violation of the procedures herein should submit a CMC Cares report. These reports allow college personnel to address concerning behavior quickly and efficiently.

In addition, the conduct of CMC students is governed by the Student Code of Conduct. According to the code, CMC students are expected to behave in ways that do not interfere with either an instructor’s ability to conduct a class or the ability of students to benefit from instruction. When outside of classrooms, students are also expected to conduct themselves in ways that maintain order and do not disrupt the operation of the institution or infringe on the rights of other members of the college community, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.

We want to hear from students and encourage them to share their concerns with campus and college leadership. However, we ask that members of the CMC community share their concerns with college officials outside of classroom environments.

Similarly, employees with legitimate concerns with college procedures are encouraged to file a grievance with the Office of Human Resources.

CMC students, faculty and staff with questions about the college’s COVID procedures should submit their inquiries through the questionnaire on the CMC Trail Map site. CMC leadership will gather these questions and share answers through its “Frequently Asked Questions,” which is available on the Trail Map site. The FAQs site will be updated periodically.