Luther Seminary is monitoring the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to minimize disruptions to teaching and learning while providing a safe environment for faculty, students, and staff who study, live, and work at Luther Seminary. We give thanks for the seminary’s COVID-19 task force, the enterprise leadership team, and our entire community of students, faculty, and staff who are supporting one another during this difficult and challenging time.
Recently, the U.S. Congress allocated funding to colleges and universities to assist students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) was created to enable colleges and universities to provide cash grants to current students for expenses related to disruptions to their education due to COVID-19. Public reporting for the student portion, the institutional portion and the FIPSE grant are available on the CARES Act Emergency Funds for Students page.
Current Status
The campus is open to the general public. Masks are recommended but not required on campus. All staff and faculty should return to their previous hybrid work arrangements they’d determined with their supervisors prior to our January 14 shift to remote work. Residential Focus Session (RFS) and full course (five-day) intensives have returned to in-person only.
Important COVID-19 Update (03/09/22)
Dear Luther Seminary community,
It was almost two years ago today when I wrote to you and shared the news that we would close our campus due to the Covid-19 pandemic and move all classes online. What a two years it has been! Through it all, we took comfort in the words of the Psalmist, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
I’m writing today to share details of how we will shift from managing a pandemic to managing an endemic virus. Covid-19 will not go away entirely, but it has evolved and so have we. Scientific discovery has led to the availability of tests, vaccines, and accurate monitoring that now empower us to return to some pre-pandemic norms while continuing to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of students, staff, faculty, and neighbors.
On February 24, the CDC issued new Covid-19 guidance, which we have been carefully weighing as we determine our next steps. I have several important updates to share with you today and ask that you read this message carefully.
First, the Covid Taskforce will be sunset and no longer meet. Please join me in thanking our colleagues who faithfully served on the taskforce: Tony Herrera, Chenar Howard, Chris Jacobson, Dale Dobias, Dan Sassenberg, David Fenrick, Heidi Albers, Jeni Grangaard, Jody Nyenhuis, Juli Schneider, Kate Norlander, Sarah Luedtke Jones, Tara Zosel, Tim Coltvet, Tom Mullany, and Michael Morrow. I am grateful for the ways in which you led our community during such a trying time.
Moving forward, the Enterprise Leadership Team (ELT) will monitor our situation and make the necessary adjustments to policy based on CDC, Minnesota Department of Health, Ramsey County, and City of St. Paul health guidelines and mandates.
Second, the mask mandate for campus has been lifted. Effective immediately, masks are recommended but not required on campus, including during chapel. We respect your decision regarding masking and ask that you respect the decisions of others. Rest assured, your health and safety remain a priority. N-95 masks are available, free of charge, at the Operations Desk (formally Information Desk) in OCC. In addition, free Covid-19 test kits are also available at the Operations Desk until March 31 while supplies last. If we have learned anything during the pandemic, it is that things change. We will not hesitate to reinstate a mask mandate if that is what CDC guidance recommends.
Third, our interim staff telecommuting policy remains in place and will be reviewed at the end of the academic year. Until then, all staff and faculty should return to their previous hybrid work arrangements they’d determined with their supervisors prior to our January 14 shift to remote work. While this pandemic has increased our acceptance of remote work, online worship, and distance learning, it has also reminded us of the power of in-person collaboration, in-person learning and being in physical community with one another. I look forward to welcoming you back to campus.
Fourth, our campus, including the library, is open to the public. After two long years, visitors are now welcome on campus.
All of these changes will be effective immediately. Again, we will not hesitate to reinstate Covid-19 protocols according to CDC recommendations in the future. Employees with questions should contact their respective member of the ELT, and students with questions should contact Dr. Leon Rodrigues, Interim Dean of Students.
Finally, I want to express my deep gratitude to each of you for your commitment to our mission, your commitment to one another, and your remarkable resilience throughout the pandemic. We experienced some very difficult days during the past two years, and made it through together, bound by the promises of God’s love and grace for us all. Thanks be to God.
Peace,
Robin