Dear Students,

We hope this email finds you safe, well rested, and having had a rejuvenating break over the holidays.   The semester begins with many new classes and learning opportunities for students and we in the Law School community are eager to welcome you back to a new semester. 

As you know from the University’s January 4th announcement the University will begin the semester with online learning.  For the week of January 10-14 all classes will be online.  For the shortened week of January 18-21, classes will either be online or hybrid – meaning professors have the discretion of teaching in person but will allow any student who prefers to stay online for that week to attend class remotely.  Some professors will opt to teach entirely online.

This email will share with you detailed academic and student life information regarding how we plan to begin the semester.  As we do so, we recognize the disruption and challenges these changes create in student life and assure you we continue to work closely with all our colleagues and the community to support students during this time.  Although not the preferred learning mode, we are fortunate to have in place the technology and experience from the Spring of 2020 and the previous academic year to smoothly transition to this mode of learning for this brief period before we return to in person classes.  While the University will continue to monitor the current health situation we expect to be back on campus, in person on Monday, January 24, 2022.

Academics

Classes will begin synchronous and online primarily through the Zoom platform as scheduled on Monday, January 10, 2022 – Friday, January 14, 2022.  Students should report to virtual classes fully prepared and able to participate starting on January 10, 2022 as class attendance begins then.  To that end, please be sure to take the following steps this week.

1. If you have not already done so, set up two-factor authentication for the CUA Google Workspace. As you know, beginning today the University commences two-factor authentication for all Google accounts, please go here for information.
2. Verify and login to your Catholic University Zoom account from the setup from which you will be taking your classes.
   • If you have not already done so, create a Catholic University Zoom account to use for your online classes. Using an official Zoom account will help instructors ensure your proper attendance.
   • You should plan to attend online classes with your camera on and from a space where you can participate in class discussion.
3. Check your access to both TWEN and Panopto and regularly check the TWEN pages for your classes and your email for updates from your professors.

During the week of January 18, 2022 – January 21, 2022 individual faculty members may continue to teach classes synchronously through the Zoom platform, but may also choose to teach in person.  Should they choose to teach in person, for that week only, students can attend either in person or remotely. 

Faculty members will reach out to individual classes with the link to your class and any special instructions very shortly.

Due to efforts to limit the spread of illness, staff will be limited on campus but available to students.  Should you need access to the Law Library, please be aware of the following:

The law library will be physically open the first two weeks of the semester, but with the limited hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  In keeping with the University directive to decrease staff density, staff will be rotating in-person and working from home.  You may call staff (who will forward their campus phones when home) or use the group emails (Reference/Circulation:  csl-ref@cua.edu; Classroom Tech/Computing: csl-av@cua.edu).  These emails may place your question in front of the best person to answer most quickly - especially as we navigate through the uncertainty of potential illnesses. 

If you absolutely need to meet with a Library staff member in-person, please contact that staff member directly to arrange for this, however, we strongly encourage everyone to remain remote  so that we can meet safety standards during this current period.

Faculty are available to meet with students virtually and students should contact faculty directly to arrange appointments.

To decrease staff density, all offices in the Law School will remain open, but with limited in person availability on a rotating basis. Regardless of in-person access, staff will be available to you remotely.  Should you need to contact any office you should email the relevant staff member directly.

Additionally, please note that through January 24 the Pryz will be open to students, but no food or drink will be allowed and a face covering will be required at all times.

Student Life & Health and Safety

As always, student health remains a priority.  The University’s latest information on its response to Covid is here and the Law School specific information is here.  Please note that these pages will continue to be updated this week with more information regarding the Spring semester.  Please start with these resources if you have specific health and safety questions, but if your questions are not answered here, feel free to contact Dean Crowley directly.

Student Events

All Law School extracurricular events and meetings must be held virtually or outdoors until all in-person classes resume on Monday, January 24.  Please coordinate online student organization events with Emily Sobieski and Heather Doerr.

Testing

As noted by President Garvey all students should be tested for Covid three days before returning to campus, regardless of vaccination status or whether you traveled outside the DMV.  In an effort to prepare for that, we strongly encourage you to make testing arrangements now.  As you likely know, PCR test centers have long waits and often require advance appointments.  The University Dean of Students Office is in the process of finalizing on-campus testing options for asymptomatic students who have not been in close contact with a known positive commencing next week and will notify students directly with more information.  Student Health Services will also be open in the coming week for symptomatic students.

Until additional staff can be hired, on-campus surveillance testing will be limited to a 9-5 schedule.  Students who are unable to test on campus during available hours, particularly our evening students, should consider making an appointment at one of the many free local testing sites.  As the semester gets underway additional testing hours will be added for evening students and evening students are welcome to test on campus during the day.  

Questions regarding on-campus testing should be directed to cua-covidstudenttesting@cua.edu.  If you test positive, please notify Dean Crowley so that she can help to provide you support. 

Masks & Vaccines

Additionally, masks are still required in indoor spaces.  High-grade, well-fitted masks such as N95, KN95, or KF94 versions, are strongly encouraged for everyone once in-person classes resume.

Finally, as noted by President Garvey, vaccinations, including boosters, are the single best strategy to get us off to a solid start once we are back on campus. If you are not yet vaccinated or boosted and are able to do so, we hope that you will consider doing so for your safety and those around you.  

The Offices of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs remain available to you to assist in any way needed.  Please feel free to contact us by email or at 202-319-6478 with any questions or if you have any difficulty in reaching faculty or staff.

Regards,

Dean Mary Graw Leary, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research

Dean Katherine G. Crowley, Associate Dean for Student Affairs

To help stop the spread of COVID-19, the District of Columbia has mandated a city-wide vaccination entry requirement, which calls for certain indoor public venues and establishments to verify that patrons are vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to entry.  The requirements took effect on January 15, 2022, per Mayor's Order 2021-148. The following guidance will address how this order will affect you and your event planning for the foreseeable future. Please note that we will continue to review applicable orders and changes may be made to these procedures throughout the semester as we receive additional information.

Outdoor Events - These events are not subject to the Mayor’s Order and the vaccine entry mandate does not apply.

Indoor Events open only to current Catholic University faculty, staff, and students - These events are not subject to the Mayor’s Order and the vaccine entry mandate does not apply. Events of this nature are required to be closed to the public and advertised as such.   Your organization must include in all advertisements that the event is only open to the Catholic University community.

Indoor Events open to individuals who are not current faculty, staff, or students - These events are subject to the Mayor’s Order and the vaccine entry mandate DOES apply. Events of this nature will need to go through an additional approval process with the Office of Student Life and Special Events in order to be permitted to occur. 

This process includes:

1. Submitting a “request to hold an open event” form.

2. Meeting with Heather Doerr and/or Dean Crowley to discuss the procedures your organization will take in order to ensure the following:
   
   a. All points of entry must be managed by event staff or student organizers;
   
   b. For all CUA Faculty/Staff/Student attendees and participants, they will be required to show a valid CUA ID to confirm their status as a CUA Community member and sign an attendance list;
   
   c. For all non-CUA Community member attendees and participants, in order to be permitted to enter, anyone 12 and older must either:
   
   - - show a valid proof of COVID vaccination, or
   - - provide confirmation to Law School faculty or staff that they have a medical or religious exemption plus confirmation of a negative PCR or antigen test within the last 24 hours prior to entry to a covered event or facility.
   
   d. For proof of vaccination, patrons ages 12 years and older must provide:
   
   - - A CDC issued vaccination card (original, photocopy, or digital copy/photo);
   - - Record of immunization from a healthcare provider or public health authority;
   - - A COVID-19 verification app (e.g., VaxYes, Clear, Excelsior, MyIR).
   
   e. Sponsors will also need to verify vaccination with photo identification for patrons ages 18 years and older, such as:
   
   - - State issued driver’s license or limited purpose driver’s license;
   - - Any other state issued identification card;
   - - Passport;
   - - DC One Card;
   - - Student ID.
   
   f. Promise to include announcement of the vaccination entry requirement in all marketing to include the following statement:
   
   “The District of Columbia is mandating a city-wide vaccination entry requirement, which calls for certain indoor public venues and establishments to verify that patrons are vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to entry. This will apply to many restaurants, bars and other facilities during your stay in Washington DC.  The mandate can be found here. Please make sure you bring your vaccination card, proof of exemption, and identification cards as necessary. For exemptions, please contact the Office of Student Life and Special Events via doerr@law.edu.” 

As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me or Heather Doerr.