Blog

President’s Update  – Paul Pribbenow

President Pribbenow started by welcoming new members of UCC and reviewing purposes of UCC- namely as a place administration can bring in areas which they would like to have a wide range of perspectives on.  Among others representation includes staff and faculty senate, students, staff union, and individuals appointed by the President.

Full council not present for today’s meeting due to some positions still in process, but hope will be fully in place by next meeting.

Many committees (both campus wide committees such as Environmental Stewardship Committee and the Equity Inclusion Council Committee, and committees that have shared structure with Faculty such as Budget, Academic Planning, and Admissions Enrollment) will also be sharing reports with UCC; currently working to re-energize these after they took a hit during the pandemic.

President Pribbenow reports that we appear to be starting the semester with strong results in terms of enrollment.  

• Total fall 2024 enrollment appears to be 103.1% of our target, with breakdown as follows:
                101.7 percent of target for total day student enrollment
• 97.8 percent of target for adult undergraduate enrollment
• 109.3 percent of target for graduate enrollment- with majority of this being a very strong showing in returning graduate enrollment which came in 80 students over our target.
• very strong transfer numbers
• retention rate went up 2.5% points from year one to year two-persistence to graduation being a major goal

• 22 high school students this fall have started as part of the new PSEO program (with a goal ultimately to get this to 100 PSEO students on campus and another 500 on line by 2030)
• 2450 undergrads this fall (compare to 1950 total ten years ago).  Undergraduate goal for 2030 is 3600
• Grad numbers pretty steady- big improvement from a couple of years ago- we are looking into new graduate programs to continue to grow these numbers.
                Adult undergrad is an area we are looking to innovate and expand upon over time “back to where we were 25 years ago when we were a real leader in this.”
• President Pribbenow will go into these numbers in more depth at this Thursday’s All Hands meeting

President Pribbenow also shared a reflection he has been hearing from faculty about the classroom feeling different for many this fall- with a lot of enthusiasm, presence and energy from the student body.

Board met over the summer and approved the refresh for Augsburg 150, which basically kept the same three core goals and then added more expansiveness to each of them. 

New capital campaign (“Great Returns”)  has already raised 10 million.

Finance Update -John Coskran

Things looking generally good in spite of all of the ways the FAFSA situation has complicated things for all.

• We are ahead in gross tuition because of stronger enrollment.
  Numbers for net tuition not yet finalized- these dependent on aid numbers still being finalized with lots of moving parts.  We know that there is typically a big difference between gross tuition and actual net tuition after we factor in unfunded student aid.
• Housing and meal contract met fall budget despite fewer housing contracts- this largely connected to this being first year that first year students were able to choose to move into Anderson and OGC- typically when upperclassmen move into these dorms the increased room is tempered by the dropping of meal plans, but as first year students need to have a meal plan still, this has increased revenues.
• Gain on sale of Augsburg House replaces plan for a higher draw on endowment authorized by board for FY25
•  Summer institute for AP educators brought in significant revenue, but majority of that went to pay the consultants who ran the program.
• Academic dept budgets have been voted in and finalized
• Rest of budgets being loaded so still not finalized, but tentatively optimistic- we are not seeing anything that is a “known and negative supply”
  Facility costs down a little with warm winter last year
• inflation risks mitigated a bit as inflation appears to be cooling

Great to be ahead instead of behind this year, but not yet at a place where we can start investing- need to stay very careful and watch every dime so we don’t end up with a roller coaster situation.

Debt covenant 

• Restructured debt with Bremmer Bank, reducing what we are paying annually.
  Changes from 12 year to 15 year but got good rate (5%) so less money out per year.  
• Bank offered a vote of confidence giving us that favorable rate and a longer payment cycle.
  (Moving all of our banking business to Bremmer Bank; really nice to be working with a local bank).

There was then some discussion about thinking ahead to options for improving occupancy rates in the residence halls

Current occupancy rates around 70% – not great to have 200-250 empty beds out of 1000.

Lowest point was during pandemic- 55% occupancy

Looking into various creative ways to increase occupancy, such as recent move of StepUp to open program up to students from other institutions, offering housing for out of state students doing internships in MN, some conversations with post graduate programs.  

Augsburg 150: 5,000 Auggies by 2030 – Robert Gould 

Horrible year as relates to the FAFSA, but during that horrible year we maintained 100% of our financial aid staff as well as graduate admissions and operations!

• enrollment results update: third highest first year class
• exceeded transfer target of 175
• Continuing grad students outperformed assumptions by 82
• late changes to census numbers so don’t have final numbers for net
• last year: down in applications, up in acceptance, down in yield- staff turnover impacted recruitment and yield. 
  Need to increase applications- form of interest, need to increase to 931 gross deposits to increase that 700 class.  Expect for yield to go down for class size.

“Tuition reset”

Over past 10 years, this has been a trend.  The more schools that do it, the more pressure there will be for Augsburg to do it as well.

We are getting closer to a reset.
A couple of things to bear in mind while anticipating this…

• Importance of proactively position ourselves and our value, as often there is an association/assumption of institutions being in trouble when they do a tuition reset.
• Importance of transparency: typically actual costs for students do not decrease- there is a lower sticker price, but then aid is also lower.  Bethel is an example of a school that has done a good job with this transparency.  We would want to do the same to avoid any appearance/student experience of “bait and switch.”

Direct admission this year has resulted in higher level of denied students, but we are admitting higher percentage every year.

SCOTUS ruling on admissions- mostly selective institutions seeing an impact on diversity, we have not seen a decline in our applicant pool or enrollment pool.

nationally NACAC-  three initiatives

redesigning structures around academic process

researching alternative for assessment

how to create a healthy workforce

“Doing things differently.”  5000 auggies by 2030

Why?

• if we don’t grow, we won’t be sustainable- we will be forced into a different educational model (growth is to support a margin and new initiatives)
• we have the goods!  If we do some work, we can drive demand
• current goal- develop “drawer full of ideas” process with faculty and staff will be done to create a big pool of ideas.
  
  2024 SEP
• phase 1- situation analysis- data for context
• Phase 2- ideation (ideas) and recommendations, explore recs, implementation.
•  

5 working groups:

degree competition

planning counseling

in process

student success, enrollment management

2030 goals 

3600 undergraduate (+1248 above current)

a big chunk of this will be PSEO- then hopefully keeping them

persistence and student success important

400 degree completers (+283 above current)

1000 grad students (+310 above current)

doctor of medical science launched (15-20 students)

SEP progress – “generating a drawer full of ideas”

SEM machine- taking all of these ideas and being transparent- action and implementation on SEP ideas.

important to think about sustainability of this growth

planning

“60 day process”

inputs and approvals- 

These three leading to SEM implementation and growth

Some 60 day actions (9/1-11/1/24)

• Feasibility analysis for BloomBoard partnership fall 2025,apprenticeship models for paraprofessionals in education (how do we relate to mission, being an anchor serving institution)
• Fall 2026- goal 700 first year and 100 PSEO
• Planning for online career course platform- for credit, asynchronous for PSEO dual enrolled students.  (Example: computer science online course which would give an overview of what CS entails so PSEO students would be better informed and prepared for going into this major)

all preliminary exploratory at present

Mary Lowe asked- how to support PSEO students?
increase of faculty if increased student body?
Paula: school directors been working on developing a staffing plan for what faculty increases will be needed for various growth models- deadline November.  Also will need more student support staff!  This is very much on the planning radar.

More fleshing out of PSEO goals:

• 100 PSEO students will basically be treated as first years (but not take AugSem).
  Online- allows rural HS students to take classes etc.
• 500 PSEO asynchronous courses -can recruit international, out of state students.  Will largely be with adjunct to keep tenured faculty for our full time in house day students.
• our PSEO policy will be full time.

Paula and reports work/Student Persistence Action Plan will be featured at Board Meeting next week

1: Augsburg150: Improving Student Persistence – Paula O’Loughlin

Goal- 150 Core Goal ic; unique needs

career pathways, your augsburg plan and support team, milestones, a durable structure of checking in (Art and Sciences- a few years ago).

Not achieving our goals if only retaining 70% of our class.

Last year first year retention stats: for the students we don’t retain, credit completion is a big indicator- tend to have lower gpa and lower retention rating

where do we start:

• data informed
• belonging and small for every student
• student engagement in core groups enhances belonging but is not enough
• credit completion is a core variable- starting first year first term- 
• prophylactic or preventative before reactive
• multiple mentors are key
• students’ return on investment and future career opportunities

• New initiatives:
  Persistence action steps- plan five core areas:
  belonging (e.g. 20 more students on Oyate retreat)
• small to every student 
• academics supports and planning
• career everywhere
• data informed

one initiative example: Started a relationship with Knack, got rid of Tutor Me

they hire OUR students as independent contractors- good grades and faculty rec

tutor at all hours.

Goal: 50% of our students getting an account.

15% (387) have already signed up

148 classes have a tutor available (17%).

Need more faculty making recommendations for tutors!!! (only 4 have so far).  Students don’t have to be work study eligible.

DFW rates-

still have writing center and offering support through writing center

“small to every student” RNL persistence enrollment company- students do surveys before orientation, end of first year, during second year.

78 (47/31) faculty staff do follow up conversations.

all 628 first years should be getting a conversation with a faculty or staff by October

data: our students are worried about making friends, sense of belonging, finances

sense of belonging and mattering important for persistence…

Reaffirmation of Accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC)

Dave Matz

10th year of reaffirmation of accreditation- we have submitted our “Assurance Argument” (e.g. speaking to all of the criteria for continued accreditation)  and are currently in 5th step of this long 5 part process. We have a team of reviewers coming to campus on 10/21-22.  1.5 day Site Visit coming up!- they will want to meet with various groups on campus.  Split into two teams.  Will be open forums for various criteria.  Go and be prepared to participate!  Be engaged and 

prepared to respond to any questions such as “how does this fit with Augsburg’s Mission.

For all:

• Be ready to answer questions
• hold calendar
• make sure physical campus is ready!

All Hands Meeting this Thursday

The COVID-19 Task Force met Friday, October 14th. Listed below are the latest updates: 

MDH Update

• Since August 21, omicron accounts for all cases in MN (currently, ~90% BA.5 and ~8% BA.4)
• Elsewhere in HHS Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI) starting to see BA.4.6 subvariant increasing in proportion
• Survey of COVID coordinators (74 responses)
• We are generally aligned with the majority of institutions in terms of our approach to masking, testing, and isolation space (not counting non-residential institutions) this semester
• Latest updates to CDC guidance only apply to institutions with on-campus health-care providers
• Update since meeting last week: bivalent boosters approved for children as young as 5
• When to get boosted if you’ve had COVID:
  • A person with COVID-19 infection can be vaccinated upon recovery from acute illness and discontinuing isolation. This applies to all COVID-19 vaccine doses, including boosters.
  • People who recently had SARS-CoV-2 infection may consider delaying a primary series dose or booster dose by 3 months from symptom onset or positive test (if infection was asymptomatic).
  • Studies have shown that increased time between infection and vaccination may result in an improved immune response to vaccination. Also, a low risk of reinfection has been observed in the weeks to months following infection

CDC community levels

• Covid cases and hospitalizations in MN “as flat as a pancake” (@dhmontgomery)
• Hennepin cases down 3.4% from last week; Ramsey, down 10.1%
• On-campus case rate remains manageable

We have a Google Form available for Augsburg Staff Union members to ask questions to be brought up at the COVID Task Force meetings. We did not receive any questions this week.

The COVID-19 Task Force met Friday, September 9th.  

Minnesota Department of Health Update:

• Most of Minnesota (including Hennepin and Ramsey counties) in low community level as defined by CDC
• However, transmissions levels (previous metric we tracked, still used in healthcare settings) are high across almost the entire state
• Case rates have declined across the state since August meeting, rate of COVID ICU admissions remains low
• Since July, all cases in the state have been omicron; BA.5 subvariant dominant
• Reviewed decision making on strengthening or loosening prevention measures based on both institutional factors (such as vaccination rate) and CDC community levels
• Not all exposures are the same: Understanding Exposure Risks(CDC)
• CDC has retired events guidance; it now falls under “Protect Yourself and Others”
• Bivalent Fall Boosters
• People that have completed a primary series may receive the booster at least two months after they have completed primary vaccination, or two months after they received a booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine.
• People 12 years and older can receive bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine; 18 and older can receive bivalent Moderna
• The new bivalent vaccines replaced the monovalent booster vaccines for people 12 and older effective immediately.

CDC community levels:Hennepin and Ramsey counties remain in low CDC levelRegional case rates declined even further compared with last week

Reported campus case levels remain manageable, below 1% We have a Google Form available for Augsburg Staff Union members to ask questions to be brought up at the COVID Task Force meetings. We did not receive any questions this week.  Urgent questions related to COVID-19 should not be submitted via the Google Form, those questions should continue to be sent to helpline@augsburg.edu, calling 612-474-3100, and/or by using the Augsburg self-reporting form.  The staff union representative will continue to send weekly updates based on information gathered in the COVID Task Force meetings and questions asked in the google form.

The COVID-19 Task Force met Thursday, August 12th. Here are the notes from the meeting: 

CDC community levels 

• For 8/10/22, both Hennepin and Ramsey remain low (below 200 cases/100k population)
• First time Hennepin remained below 200 for two weeks in a row since the end of April. (See 6-week history.)
• No student or employee cases reported so far this week. 

COVID-19 statement for syllabi 

• Faculty have begun inquiring about a syllabus “COVID statement” that they can include in their syllabi for Fall. As the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Jennifer Bankers-Fulbright can provide this for faculty via the COVID team/other institutional admin based on this committee’s recommendation.
• During the meeting, the Deans (Monica Devers and Ryan Haaland) told Jennifer to send a draft statement for them to review along with Provost Paula O’Loughlin. 

Residence Life Planning

• Mike Grewe stated that they are working on an isolation contingency plan if they run out of isolation spaces. 
• There will still be a floor dedicated to student isolation (13^th floor of Mortensen)
• Monkeypox planning (in process) – nothing has been finalized yet. However, there will be contact tracing for Monkeypox. 
• Plan to send an email to students sometime next week with all finalized updates. 

Further discussion about masking at the start of fall

• Lauren Radomski provided Staff Union Feedback based on the survey that was sent out last week- She shared that 21/23 respondents wanted a mask mandate in the fall. 
• Athletics: Concern about how to require other teams and spectators to wear masks. 
• Further discussion on mandate vs recommendation.
• After the discussion, Rebecca John stated that she plans to recommend the following to the President’s office: 
• For the first week, Augsburg is going to ask that everyone wear a mask indoors where there are other people around. This will be neither a mandate nor a recommendation, but instead will be a direct ask.
• Start date for the masking ask at Augsburg: First day of classes on August 31st through Friday, September 9th. 

HEPA Filter Machines

• Someone in the task force brought up that they are not clear on the management of the HEPA filter machines across campus. 
• John Knowles stated: “Our team will check the machines as part of our pre-Fall classroom checks. Facilities is able to replace if they are not working.”
• Make sure your HEPA filter machines are on and if they are not working, put in a work order request to facilities. 

Updated CDC guidance (issued Aug. 11, 2022) 

• Known exposure: Protocol for those with boosters now applies to everyone: mask for 10 days, test on day 5-7 (or sooner if symptoms present) 
• Isolation: Same 5 day isolation, with masking days 6-10 and notifying close contacts, but now there’s an option to mask only until they receive two consecutive negative test results, with tests taken at least 48 hours apart. For some people, though, this might mean they will need to continue masking longer than 10 days. 
• The Outbreak Planning site, automated email content, and logic will be updated to reflect these changes. 
• Contact Tracing for COVID: When some reports that they are positive via the reporting form, the student, faculty and/or staff that reported they were positive will receive the instructions to contact the people that were exposed to them to let them know.

We have a Google Form available for Augsburg Staff Union members to ask questions to be brought up at the COVID Task Force meetings. We received one question this week about contact tracing on campus. This was addressed during the meeting today during the updated CDC guidance discussion. 

Urgent questions related to COVID-19 should not be submitted via the Google Form, those questions should continue to be sent to helpline@augsburg.edu, calling 612-474-3100, and/or by using the Augsburg self-reporting form.  

The staff union representative will continue to send weekly updates based on information gathered in the COVID Task Force meetings and questions asked in the google form.

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 Task Force met Thursday, August 4^th. The main focus of the meeting was a discussion on a potential mask mandate for the first two weeks of the fall semester. Here are the notes from the meeting and next steps that we need from you:

Next steps for Augsburg Staff Union Members:

We want your feedback! Please complete the following short google form about your opinion and reasoning to either have a mask mandate at the start of the semester or to not have a mask mandate at the start of the semester. Please refer to the meeting notes listed below for more context about the discussion that was had at the COVID task force meeting. 

Start of Fall Mask Mandate Google Form

Meeting notes:

Dashboard update

• As of mid-last week, case rates were still fairly steady in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, but Hennepin County rate eked just above the CDC medium threshold. Ramsey County numbers all were in low community level. MPR calls it a “slow burn.”
• Campus case rates remain manageable, though student case numbers ticked up this past week.
• Potential draft messages and signage are ready if community level reach “high” and we would need to consider reinstating the mask mandate.
• A decision to move to a potential mask mandate will continue to be evaluated weekly based on community levels and institution level factors.

Minnesota Department of Health Updates

• Variants
  • BA.4 omicron sub variant accounts for 85 percent of cases in HHS Region 5 (Midwest)
  • New sublineage, BA.2.75, increasing in frequency and has been identified in MN; does not seem to show greater immune evasion than BA.5
• Overview of mitigation strategies for 2022-23
  • Base decisions on institution-level factors (vaccine coverage, ability to detect transmission, population risk of severe disease, masking policy, ventilation) in combination with COVID-19 Community Levels
  • Sliding scale of efforts in: vaccination policy, testing access, testing strategies, isolation space, masking, and ventilation
• New reporting guidelines and new REDCAP form launching next week at COVID coordinator training
• Monkeypox update (39 confirmed cases in MN)

Chronicle Article: Higher ed vaccine mandates significantly decreased COVID deaths

Start of Fall Mask Mandate Discussion (no decisions for recommendations were made in the meeting)

• Discussed recommending a return-to-school indoor mask mandate (potentially starting Th, 8/25, expiring Sa 9/10, provided that Hennepin County is in low or medium level)
• It was talked about starting it earlier on the 22nd because of student move-in times.
• We discussed what would be the ultimate goal of the mask mandate. Here are the comments mentioned in the meeting:
  • To reduce potential spread of COVID-19 at the start of the semester because of the amount of people that will be returning to campus and attending larger on-campus events.
  • To minimize disruption at the start of classes for better student success.
• The following questions and comments were discussed at the meeting:
  • Does it make sense to have masking at only large events and classrooms, or at all indoor common areas except for designated eating spaces?
  • We also discussed that the type of mask is really important (n95 & kn95). We have to indicate what type of mask is effective in order to actually reduce transmission. Mike Grewe is trying to work with Student Government to obtain some KN95s before first-year move-in. There wouldn’t be a large stock of masks, but there would be some.
  • Even if we don’t have 100% compliance, a mask mandate would still help reduce transmission.
  • Does this mean athletes will have to wear masks when playing?
  • Should this be a mask mandate or a recommendation?
  • Macalester will have a mask mandate at the start of fall.
  • Because there has not been a significant amount of people masking in the community, we need to determine why we would be reinstating a mask mandate on campus for the first two weeks if Hennepin County is not at a high community level.
  • To what extent will it be enforced if a mask mandate is implemented?
• We ultimately did not come to a decision to recommend because of the amount of factors that still need to be considered at this time. We all agreed to reach out to the departments and groups that we represent and gather more feedback on this topic before we meet again next week.

Here is the Google Form link again to complete with your feedback:

• Start of Fall Mask Mandate Google Form

We did not get to other items on the agenda at the meeting. As a result, we will be meeting again next week to continue our discussion on the potential of a mask mandate for the first two weeks of classes in fall and address remaining agenda items:

• Task Force Meeting Schedule
• COVID-19 statement for syllabi
• Residence Life planning

The staff union representative will continue to send weekly updates based on information gathered in the COVID Task Force meetings. 

Dear Colleagues,

It’s been a while since we’ve given a comprehensive Union bargaining update. This is mainly due to how microscopic the administration’s movement has been in the last several months. Bargaining has all but come to a standstill- with us fighting for affordable healthcare, job security, and livable wages on one side, and the administration fighting for the turnover-driving status quo on the other.

Healthcare Costs

The administration has indicated that they see no issue with the astronomical cost of our healthcare, therefore they don’t want to improve it. They want the status quo and nothing more. Meanwhile, health insurance for a family at Augsburg costs roughly $14,000/year before the plan significantly starts to cover costs, which prices most people who need family-level care out of coverage, or drives them away from Augsburg. (Only 10% of our bargaining unit selects family coverage.) In a comparison with other Minnesota private colleges and ELCA-affiliated schools nationally, Augsburg is dead-last in affordability. This must change.

Please fill out this brief survey on how the cost of healthcare at Augsburg affects you.

Wages

Since we started bargaining on March 9, 2021, the Union has proposed a higher minimum salary floor for all positions. The administration’s current counterproposal leaves 97% of the unit without a base floor increase, and the remaining 3% with a very small bump. Additionally, the administration only wants to offer a 2% cost of living increase for 2023, and 1.5% each subsequent year. Yet in the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 9.1%.

If you’re an Augsburg VP, maybe you earn enough to not feel the same impact of inflation plus Twin Cities housing costs (and especially if Augsburg gives you a free house!). Unfortunately, our average staff person earns only $50,000/year, hence our ask for a living wage. Augsburg has also been paying an expensive management attorney to deal with the Union for the last two years. Every day they don’t settle our contract, that cost continues.

The administration has not said they can’t afford to pay us more, only that they are not interested in doing so. They should honor true Lutheran values and start sharing the wealth, or give us a clear reason why they can’t.

Job Security

Admin has reiterated, emphatically, that we should not have a guarantee of layoff by seniority, which is the overwhelming standard in the vast majority of union contracts nationwide- including the Operating Engineers’ contract with Augsburg, which covers facilities and custodial staff. In 2020, the administration arbitrarily laid off dozens of staff to deal with a pre-Covid budget “crisis” (or what some believe was an “accounting error”). People who had worked for Augsburg for up to 20 years were let go in one of the most uncertain times in any of our lives.

Most union contracts require layoffs by seniority because it’s the only truly fair method of dealing with the rare instance of layoffs. It removes favoritism and unfair targeting of staff in favor of an objective standard based on years of service. We don’t anticipate layoffs, and neither does the administration. But under our proposal, if they occur, there would be clear and consistent criteria for who is laid off and how. Our proposal also would provide an opportunity for people to take on other jobs at Augsburg before being laid off, if qualified. Finally, those laid off would be given some severance pay, continued insurance, and priority for rehire.

What is the administration’s proposal? To do layoffs of whoever they want, however they want. This isn’t fair and isn’t in line with the union standard across the country.

Management’s Rights

The administration is demanding that we waive our rights under federal labor law and waive all rights to bargain over any changes to our working conditions. Under labor law, the employer always maintains the right to run its business and has final decision making authority. But the law also gives our Union the right to bargain over changes that affect us. Admin wants to take our voice away from us, which was a fundamental reason we formed a Union.

We have successful examples over the past year where we have bargained over management-proposed changes before they were implemented: a mandatory vaccine policy (which resulted in us bargaining 16 extra hours of PTO for everyone), healthcare renewals for 2022 (which resulted in us bargaining increases down from 5% to 2.5%), a wage increase for 2022, and more.

Without our federally-protected right to bargain over working conditions, admin could do whatever they want and never talk to us about it. They could change your job description, overhaul the Employee Handbook, or make changes we can’t anticipate.  This certainly does not respect the democratic process we went through to form a union, and this is why we cannot waive our rights under the law.

Summary

These are big issues. It’s been 16 months of this frustrating posture by the administration to ignore our concerns and believe that our proposals will make a better Augsburg for all. The longer they hold out on providing affordable wages, healthcare, and job protections, the worse this turnover crisis is going to get. Even if admin thinks they’re going to “win” by saving whatever money they can on this contract, they’re going to lose in the long run when the turnover crisis begins to hurt our prestige as a university because staff is no longer able to adequately support the students. We’ve heard over and over from students how admin’s deliberate understaffing affects them. When will admin act to stop the bleeding and treat us fairly?

Dear Colleagues,
The COVID-19 Task Force met very briefly Thursday, June 30th 2022. I was not able to attend the meeting today due to a work conflict, but here are the notes that were shared with me. If you have any clarifying questions, please let us know.Status Update:Case rate volatility (7-day case rate per 100K population in Hennepin):

• Wednesday, June 8: 315
• Wednesday, June 15: 241
• Wednesday, June 22: 137 (Current Dashboard)
• Tuesday, June 28:    281

Overall, MN cases continue slow decline:

Other updates
Very close to automating email responses to COVID form submissions.Nearly 300 new student vaccination cards uploaded (esp. during SOAR) and recorded.
CDC changed definition of “up to date” on vaccinations for those 50 and older to include two boosters MDH meeting next Wednesday, July 6.Charts retrieved from: https://mpr-news.github.io/covid-data/dashboard.html

We also set up a Google Form so Augsburg Staff Union members could state their questions or concerns to be addressed at the meeting. We did not receive any questions this week.Urgent questions related to COVID-19 should not be submitted via the Google Form, those questions should continue to be sent to helpline@augsburg.edu, calling 612-474-3100, and/or by using the Augsburg self-reporting form.

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 Task Force meeting has been cancelled for this week. Here are updates the COVID Task Force was sent in replacement of a meeting time:

• As reported in the June 9 meeting and as shown on the Dashboard, the 7-day case rate in Hennepin County rose back above 300 per 100,000 population as of Wednesday, June 7. It has since declined slowly to the low 200s, as has Ramsey County.
• The 2022 line in the graph above shows how the overall case rate trend in MN has flattened after declining a bit from mid/late May.

We also set up a Google Form so Augsburg Staff Union members could state their questions or concerns to be addressed at the meeting. We did not receive any questions this week.Urgent questions related to COVID-19 should not be submitted via the Google Form, those questions should continue to be sent to helpline@augsburg.edu, calling 612-474-3100, and/or by using the Augsburg self-reporting form.

The staff union representative will continue to send weekly updates based on information gathered in the COVID Task Force meetings and questions asked in the google form.