MSU strives to keep community safe and informed on coronavirus

February 28, 2020

As the university continues to actively monitor the coronavirus outbreak and various media and organizations are discussing its spread internationally and domestically, our goal is to continue keeping campus informed on the university’s response and proactive efforts. It is important to note that there are still no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of Michigan.

Coronavirus response website:

The university has further built out its rapid response website to keep the campus community informed about the outbreak and MSU’s response. This site includes information on travel restrictions, resource and support for impacted students, and important health information to keep ourselves and one another safe. Please share this website broadly with your colleagues and students (msu.edu/coronavirus).   Updates are often changing quickly, so this is the best current site for your own information and to direct those with questions.  We realize some colleges and units are either putting up their own websites, or providing information on coronavirus themselves.  We are not asking those sites to be taken down, but do ask that you link back to this main website to make sure the most current information is readily available.

 

Past communications:

In case you might have missed them, two letters have already been distributed to campus regarding the coronavirus.   This letter from Jan. 30 from Dr. David Weismantel and Vice President Denise Maybank and another letter on Feb. 20 from the same authors regarding updates on travel bans and healthcare safety.  Both letters are on the website referenced above.

 

President Stanley also touched on our coronavirus efforts earlier today in his monthly community letter.   Provost Sullivan already forwarded to you a communication that Dr. Maybank sent to all students regarding spring break travel and concerns related to the virus.

 

 

Upcoming communications:

In the coming weeks, there will be three key communications sent to various audiences throughout our campus community. The first is being distributed tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 28.  

  1. A message to faculty, staff and students on what the university is currently doing for students who are impacted by this outbreak.  This is being developed by Chris Daniel, Director of International Health and Safety and Dr. Beth Alexander, Senior Advisor to the Provost, in conjunction with University Communications.
  2. A message to faculty, staff and students on what the university is doing to prepare the campus for an outbreak in Michigan.  This letter is in development.
  3. A message to international students who have been admitted but might not be able to come to campus in the fall due to travel restrictions, and MSU’s support for those students.  The Provost’s Office is working on this letter and it will be sent to students from the Provost and the President.

 

All communications will be translated into Mandarin, Italian, Korean, and other languages as needed.

 

While these communications are critically important, they won’t all address real-time issues, particularly as the virus news is evolving daily. That said, we continue to ask our Spartan leaders to promote, share and direct faculty, staff, students, visitors and parents to our coronavirus website msu.edu/coronavirus.  We remain concerned about campus well-being and we are committed to keeping the safety of our students, faculty, staff and community.

 

Media and communications needs:

Finally, University Communications will continue to lead communications for both internal and external audiences on this outbreak and its impact to campus. Please continue to direct all media calls to Dan Olsen (olsenda2@msu.edu or 517-884-8675), and if you need support with messaging to individual groups and stakeholders, our team can help with that as well.