To all instructors,

Thank you for all that you are doing to support the health and safety of individuals in our classrooms. It is encouraging to see the high level of mask compliance in classrooms, and we appreciate your efforts to provide seating charts and keep attendance for contract tracing purposes.  In relation to these efforts, please review the COVID-related updates below:

COVID testing

Curry Health Center is offering free COVID-19 testing for:

• Students currently experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
• Students who are Missoula City-County Health Department-verified close contacts to positive cases.

Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD) is using the same testing criteria.

Again, please note that testing is not available for close contacts until a person has been verified by MCCHD. Close contacts seeking tests will need to provide MCCHD verification. Neither testing facility is able to offer asymptomatic or travel testing at this time due to the high volume of symptomatic and close-contact testing. Other facilities continue to offer COVID testing to the public.

What to do if you’re identified as a close contact

If you are fully vaccinated:

• You do not have to quarantine unless you have COVID-19 symptoms.
• Get tested three to five days after exposure.
• Wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days after exposure or until you receive a negative test result.

If you are partially or not vaccinated:

• You should self-quarantine (wear a mask in all indoor public spaces if you do venture out) and await word from the Missoula City-County Health Department. If you become symptomatic, seek a COVID-19 test immediately.
• As a MCCHD-verified close contact, you will be ordered to quarantine for up to 14 days, depending on your specific case and exposure.

Only MCCHD officials can issue quarantine or isolation orders.

Request to not move classroom furniture

Classroom furniture layouts are designed for ADA compliance. Facilities Services posted the layouts online to help instructors create seating charts for contact tracing purposes. Facilities Services colleagues report finding classrooms where furniture has been moved at the end of each day. This causes them extra work, as they must put the furniture back in its original layout each time they find it changed.

We ask that instructors and students not move classroom furniture. Recognizing there are instruction-related reasons to rearrange furniture, we ask that if instructors move furniture, they put it back in its original layout before the class period ends. Instructors who rearrange classroom furniture should develop and submit a seating chart reflecting seating assignments in the changed classroom layout.

Thank you for understanding and collaborating with our Facilities Services team on this important matter. We appreciate instructors’ and students’ consideration for the Facilities Services team.

Ensuring quarantined/isolated students can join classes remotely and access content

Classroom technology

The UM IT Classroom Technology Team has standardized technology to better enable distance teaching from classrooms. Most instructional spaces should be equipped with at least a webcam to enable Zooming students in to live instruction.

Tips for teaching in front of a webcam

• Be mindful of your distance and perspective with the webcam.
• When speaking, be close to the webcam to be heard clearly by the audience on Zoom.
• Clarity of speech is improved by using a surgical mask rather than a cloth mask.

If the equipment in your classroom isn’t adequate, please contact the Mansfield Library at 243-6866 about additional microphone options for personal amplification. Additional resources for teaching with technology are available on the Library’s website.

Share course content on Moodle

Every course has a Moodle shell. Please put course content into Moodle shells before it may be needed. Doing so can ensure a smooth transition if a student cannot attend class. The UM Online Instructional Design team can help answer questions about using Moodle. For issues logging into Moodle or other technical trouble-shooting, please contact the UM IT Help Desk at 243-4357.

UM-sponsored international travel

Based on the Commissioner of Higher Education’s guidance for the Montana University System, the following protocol related to UM-sponsored international travel is effective immediately:

• Any UM sponsored travel to countries rated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Level 4 is prohibited. Please consult the CDC’s COVID-19 map for levels.
• Faculty, staff, and students wishing to travel to countries rated Department of State (DOS) levels 3 or 4 or CDC level 3 are required to petition permission for travel from the UM International Travel Review Committee (ITRC) by submitting a risk management plan with enhanced COVID-specific risk mitigation and contingency plans with final approval by the Provost.

The University of Montana acknowledges that the COVID-19 situation is evolving quickly around the world. As a result, CDC and DOS levels may change with very little notice. The ITRC is committed to reviewing petitions with a quick turnaround to accommodate these changes. Please visit UM’s International Travel Guidance page for complete details.

For any questions or concerns, see the UM International Travel Policy and Travel Procedures, e-mail GoAbroad@mso.umt.edu or call (406)243-2278.

Thank you,

The Office of the Provost

This message was sent by the Office of the Provost to all UM faculty, staff and administrators.