Archives for August 15, 2022

Reported employee cases: 1
Reported student cases: 0
Students in quarantine or isolation: 0

Reported cases only include students and employees who have been on campus within a period of time during which they may have been contagious. According to the CDC this includes two days prior to the onset of symptoms or a positive test.

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19, or if you are an unvaccinated individual who has been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 (close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of that person for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period), please report that to the appropriate person. For employees, that person is Michael Morrow (mmorrow001@luthersem.edu). Students should contact Leon Rodrigues (deanofstudents@luthersem.edu).

Contact Tracing Protocol

When an on-campus case of COVID-19 is reported, that person is first asked to stay off-campus and quarantine in accordance with CDC guidelines. In addition, the seminary takes two steps for contact tracing:

1. The Minnesota Department of Health is notified, per guidelines for institutions of higher education

2. The person reporting the case is asked to identify “close contacts”; the close contacts identified are notified of the exposure and asked to follow CDC guidelines for testing and quarantining (quarantine applies only to close contacts who are unvaccinated).

In this devotion, Ted Kunze ’80 M.Div. meditates on how our lives can be reflections of God’s love. Read today’s God Pause.

The Opening Convocation and Service of Holy Communion With Installation of Deans, Faculty, and Staff is at 11 a.m. Wednesday, September 21. Lunch will follow.

Luther Seminary recognizes that some of its students use names other than their Legal Names to identify themselves. To that end, the Seminary is implementing a new Chosen Name Policy. This policy designates which Seminary systems and communications will use Chosen Name and which will use Legal Name. In all cases, Luther Seminary will use Chosen Name in all systems, communications, and interactions unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement to use a student’s Legal Name.

At the same time we are rolling out this new policy, we are also introducing two new forms to facilitate changes to student name and identity information stored in Seminary systems.

Chosen Name, Gender, and Pronouns Change Form

The Chosen Name, Gender, and Pronouns Change Form allows students to change the Chosen Name, Gender Identity, and Pronouns on file with Luther Seminary.

Chosen Name will be used in Luther Seminary systems and communications as designated in the Chosen Name Policy.

A student’s Gender Identity will appear in all Seminary systems and reports that include Gender.

A student’s Pronouns will be stored in Seminary systems and will be displayed in Moodle beginning August 20, 2022.

Legal Name and Legal Sex Change Form

The Legal Name and Legal Sex Change Form allows students to change the Legal Name and Legal Sex on file with Luther Seminary.

Legal Name will be used in Luther Seminary systems and communications as designated in the Chosen Name Policy.

Legal Sex is maintained in Luther Seminary records, but is only used for Federal student financial aid interactions that require a student’s sex assigned at birth.

Website

All information included in this communication can also be found on Inside Luther Seminary on the Name, Gender, and Pronoun Changes page.

Students with Existing Preferred Names and Alternate Names in Moodle

If you have already designated a Preferred Name during the admissions process or at another time, or if you have entered an Alternate Name in Moodle, you will receive an email in mid July with instructions on how to update your Chosen Name to reflect your Preferred Name or Alternate Name.

Timing

The Chosen Name Policy and the new forms are rolling out on June 30, 2022. Luther Seminary systems will be updated with Chosen Names and Pronouns by August 20, 2022.

Questions

If you have questions about the Chosen Name Policy or the new forms, please email Chris Jacobsen at cjacobsen003@luthersem.edu.