Recap: Planning + Process: ISSUE 12

Welcome

Welcome to issue 12 of Recap, MICA’s regular communication on the College’s progress and planning around the return to campus for Spring 2021 and beyond.

Recap is also a place for dialogue, so we encourage you to use the Comment on This Topic button at the end of each story. We use your feedback to help build our shared understanding as One Team MICA.

And as always, some information may not apply to all programs and constituents, such as Open Studies. For specific information, please use the departmental directory at the end of this issue.

As we move through this semester—with continuing good news around vaccinations and infection rates—MICA is able to look ahead with optimism toward a more normal Fall 2021.

Earlier this month, President Sammy Hoi shared a broad view of MICA’s plans for the fall semester. This favorable outlook was built on the work accomplished in mounting the College’s successful spring semester, and is supported by the positive assessment of MICA’s current and ongoing health and safety effort by our epidemiological consultants.

With their guidance, we are planning to open MICA’s Fall 2021 semester in a revised and expanded Operational Mode 4, with close to normal operations across our educational, residential, and supporting College functions.

Here’s what that means:

Residence halls will be open and operating, with precautionary measures in place. Students can apply for housing here.

Instruction will be primarily in-person or hybrid, with the expectation that students, faculty, and staff will be teaching, learning, and working on the MICA campus, using the physical resources of the College.

Physical distancing will be relaxed, while other public health and safety measures—such as masking, health protocols in dining areas, and some modifications in shop/studio access—will likely remain in place.

We will continue to work closely with our international families to assess the viability of students’ ability to return to the U.S. and the possibility for international programming in the fall.

We will continue to update the community in future issues of Recap as well as a soon-to-be-launch Fall Reopening website. So keep an eye out!

As previously announced, MICA has partnered with a clinical provider in Baltimore to give our community better access to COVID-19 vaccinations. Since that announcement—and with the recent acceleration of the state vaccination timeline— the College has created a Vaccination Waitlist form, to better serve our community. You can read the full announcement in the March 20 campus memo.

We are asking any employee who has not yet been vaccinated and wants to be, to complete the form.

The clinical provider initially reserved a supply of vaccines for MICA with enough doses to vaccinate our frontline employees, and generously offered to include the remainder of MICA employees when its allocation increases and the state moves into Phases 2 and 3. To date, approximately 100 employees of MICA have received their first shots from our clinical provider, and have appointments for their second shots.

Appointments will be given based on availability from the provider and an employee's position on the College's Vaccination Tiers, which are based on state eligibility requirements. When appointments become available, employees on the waitlist will be given additional information by Human Resources or their supervisor.

As more MICA employees are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, we wanted to remind all eligible employees that they will not be required to use sick or personal leave when taking time off to be vaccinated or if experiencing vaccine-related side effects. Read the full details in the March 12 campus memo.

Getting the vaccine:
Eligible employees who need to take time off for their COVID-19 vaccine will be paid for up to two hours for each appointment (totaling up to four hours of total pay). Supervisors are required to enter department-sponsored leave for employees in Workday and add comments that explain the purpose of the leave (ex: COVID-19 Vaccination).

Side effects after getting the vaccine:
MICA will provide up to two paid days to all eligible employees who experience side effects that prevent them from working after receiving their COVID-19 vaccination. Supervisors are required to enter department-sponsored leave for employees in Workday and add comments that explain the purpose of the leave (ex: COVID-19 Vaccination side effects).

This benefit will extend retroactively to eligible employees who have already used available leave. Supervisors will need to correct these absences in Workday. Instructions are available here.

As summer approaches, we would like to remind employees about vacation leave deadlines.

To better support our employees during the pandemic, MICA instated a temporary extension of the fiscal year 2019-2020 vacation carry-over deadline from September 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021.

Since MICA is requiring eligible employees to take 10 days of unpaid leave because of the continued budgetary effects of the pandemic, the original extension was further extended to May 31, 2021. Also, eligible staff employees may carry over up to 10 days of unused vacation leave accrued between July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, through to May 31, 2022.
Important to note: While the 10 days are available for use, they are ineligible for a payout if an employee leaves MICA between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.

Additionally, unused vacation time accrued in fiscal year 2020/2021 normally expiring on September 1, 2021 as per MICA’s standard policy, has been extended to May 31, 2022.
Important to note: Other types of leave — like sick time and personal days — will follow the normal expiration dates.

As a reminder, What if? is an ongoing feature of Recap intended to help create a shared understanding of what the 2020 - 2021 academic year will look and feel like by posing real-world “what if” scenarios submitted by the community.

What if I’m in the College’s weekly COVID-19 testing program, but will miss my appointment due to being on furlough? Will my ID be deactivated?

We spoke with Dr. Judith Kinney, associate vice president of student health and wellness, to get an answer.

For MICA employees currently participating in the College’s Surveillance Testing Program who will be furloughed at some point during the spring semester, please contact me at jkinney01@mica.edu to have your testing account flagged to prevent ID deactivation while away on furlough. Once you return to campus, you will be reentered into the testing pool and expected to resume regular testing.

As mentioned previously, we’ve included the ability for you to submit comments on individual topics for each issue of Recap in order to help provide an open dialogue around the complex and evolving issues of mounting the 2021 semester.

We thank all of you who have submitted thoughtful comments from past issues. Those comments are used to inform future issues, raise awareness on topics, and ultimately help build shared understanding as One Team MICA. And while we cannot provide individual recognition for each comment, we are providing a summary snapshot of those comments to promote transparency.

Graduate Studies: graduatestudies@mica.edu

Undergraduate Studies: ugstudies@mica.edu

Student Affairs: studentaffairs@mica.edu

Open Studies: openstudies@mica.edu

Finance and Operations: vpoperationsandfinance@mica.edu

Technology: helpdesk@mica.edu

Strategic Communications: communications@mica.edu

Human Resources: humanresources@mica.edu

Strategic Initiatives: strategicinitiatives@mica.edu

Advancement: advancement@mica.edu

Admission: admissions@mica.edu

Parent Relations: parentrelations@mica.edu