President message to community

Posted May 4, 2021

Transcript

Hello everyone. With the rising COVID cases in Alberta I wanted to reach out and wish everyone well and to make a few minor requests if I could.

But first I'll acknowledge that this has been a long haul and I recognize all of you have been working hard to balance your personal as well as your work responsibilities. And that is very much appreciated.

Right now, though, what I would like to communicate to everyone is that if you don’t need to be on campus I would strongly encourage you please not to come to campus. There are folks that need to be on campus and keeping exposure as low as possible is really the best way we can help keep those folks going. If you do need to be on campus I strongly encourage you to wear a mask and follow all the safety protocols and I really really appreciate that.

I think right now would be an easy time for us to let our guard down. We are tired, the sun is shining. But we just can't do that. We have to stay the course and that’s so important.

I want to strongly encourage you to get vaccinated. I have been vaccinated. And if you become eligible I would strongly encourage you to prioritize that. Please know you can take up to three hours away from campus in order to do that. I encourage supervisors to facilitate that. This is pretty high on the old hierarchy of needs. So please do your level best to prioritize that.

And finally as I have said before and I will say again, let’s practice some compassion and kindness. It goes an awful long way during this very difficult time.

I know we have lots to communicate around out all of this stuff for the fall and I know everyone is eager for this information but for right now, today, please only come to campus if you need to, follow all the safety protocols, get vaccinated if you can, don’t let your guard down and please be kind to one another.

Thanks so much. Hang in there.