RNAG UPDATE: REVISED COVID-19 Syllabus Guidance and Suggested Language
Tuesday’s Daily Flyer article, “COVID-19 Syllabus Guidance and Suggested Language” advised faculty to “let [a student who refuses to wear a mask] stay in class or dismiss the class and move it to remote delivery,” and many faculty and staff raised questions about that guidance. To respond to those questions and concerns, updated guidance for faculty can be found below.
Please follow these steps:
- Include the following paragraphs in your syllabi notifying students of NOVA’s face covering mandate and related classroom rules: As the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to spread, NOVA has safety protocols in place to help protect our community’s health and well-being. But we also need your help.
Wear a face covering in class.
Any student who does not have an appropriate face covering will be offered a free face covering (also available to anyone who needs one at the NOVA Parking & NOVACard Office). The primary focus of NOVA’s official Temporary Covid-19 Face Covering Policy is to encourage personal responsibility and voluntary compliance, but disciplinary action may be a possibility for refusal to wear a face covering.
If you cannot wear a face covering due to extenuating circumstances, such as a medical condition, work with the Office of Accommodation and Access.
Students who are unable to wear a face covering must ask for accommodations through the Office of Disability Support Services (soon to be known as the Office of Accommodations and Access). Once a Memorandum of Accommodations (MOA) is finalized, you should share the MOA with your professors.
NOVA strongly encourages all NOVA Nighthawks to get vaccinated.
Every vaccinated student who shows their vaccination card at a NOVA Parking Office will receive a $250 NOVACard credit. This can be used to pay for books, food and many other benefits and services on campus.
If you still need a vaccine, the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) and its vaccinating partner Red Sea Homecare Agency (RSHA) are currently offering open vaccine scheduling until Wednesday, Sept. 15. NOVA is strongly encouraging everyone who is able to get vaccinated to do so. Schedule your appointment today. CLICK HERE to review the full schedule for the NOVA Alexandria Campus
Wash your hands!
You will see handwashing signs, hygiene stations in classrooms and hallways and alcohol wipes around campus, all to help keep everyone healthy. NOVA is also making continuing improvements to indoor air quality and maintaining enhanced cleaning protocols.
For the latest information and updates, please refer to NOVA’s COVID-19 Resources webpage: https://www.nvcc.edu/safe-campus/index.html.
- Compassionately remind the student and offer a face covering.
If a student comes into class without a face covering, gently remind them that face coverings are required while in a NOVA building and offer them one (free face coverings will be made available in classrooms and at NOVA Parking & NOVACard Offices).
Face coverings are no longer required at all public establishments, so it’s quite possible a student may forget.
- If a student refuses to wear a face covering, politely ask them to leave the class.
For example, you could say: “The Virginia Community College System and NOVA’s Temporary Covid-19 Face Covering Policy require everyone to wear a mask indoors at our campuses and sites to help protect the campus community during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you will not wear a face covering, I will have to ask you to leave class.”
- Refer the student to the Dean of Student Success (or their designee).
While the primary focus of NOVA’s Temporary Covid-19 Face Covering Policy is to encourage personal responsibility and voluntary compliance, students who refuse to comply should be referred to the appropriate campus Dean of Student Success (or their designee) or the Coordinator for Student Integrity and Conduct.
Fortunately, NOVA experienced very little non-compliance with the face covering policy during the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters and we are optimistic that will continue.
We hope this updated guidance is helpful as you finalize your syllabi and we commit to communicate as clearly and effectively as possible going forward. If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Hopkins, Interim Associate Vice President (AVP) for Academic Affairs, at bhopkins@nvcc.edu.
Submitted by:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications, DSelak@nvcc.edu