RETURN TO CAMPUS – Return to NOVA Advisory Group (RNAG)

To prepare for the fall 2020 start of classes, the College established the Return to NOVA Advisory Group (RNAG). Perhaps a quirky acronym, but RNAG is a team with a crucial purpose—to make recommendations for NOVA’s response to COVID-19 and plan for returning to campus.

The Return to NOVA Advisory Group is chaired by the Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police Dan Dusseau. It includes heads of all critical operational areas at NOVA, such as facilities, communications, emergency management and safety, human resources, academics, operations and other essential staff. The group works closely with college administration and derives guidance from Virginia’s governor, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and Virginia’s Department of Human Resource Management.

RNAG was divided into task teams, including:

• Administrative Controls (Campus Operations)
• Engineering Controls (Facilities)
• Communications
• Human Resources
• Academics
• Planning
• Information Technology

RNAG has worked tirelessly to think through various scenarios to ensure that students, faculty and staff are met when they return to face-to-face learning and work at NOVA.

To document these plans, RNAG drafted NOVA’s Return to Campus Plan—Fall 2020, which gives a broad overview and some specific information on what to expect as campuses begin to reopen after four months of teaching, learning and working from home.

Special thanks to the members of RNAG for dedicating their time and energy to this critical endeavor.