Dear Colleagues:

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Pamela Scott-Johnson who joins us today as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. Although this is her first official day in office, I know that many of you have already had the opportunity to speak with her during her preparations to join the Monmouth University community.

I am delighted that Dr. Scott-Johnson will lead our strategic efforts to invest in academic excellence. Her vision and experience will be instrumental in partnering with faculty to develop new, high-quality, market–relevant undergraduate and graduate programs. 

She comes to Monmouth from California State University, Los Angeles, where she served as the dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences since 2016. At Cal State LA, Dr. Scott-Johnson led the largest college at the university, with more than 150 faculty members in 12 departments serving nearly 6,000 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. Recognized as one of the nation’s most innovative institutions of higher education, the university earned a No. 1 ranking for upward mobility from The New York Times.

Her commitment to teaching and research excellence will also be critical as we transition from a top-tier regional institution to a national university with a growing portfolio of doctoral programs, and deliver on our strategic plan to meet the needs of a rapidly changing student body.

I look forward to introducing Dr. Scott-Johnson to you in the weeks ahead.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Monmouth University Community:

I write today with an important update to our existing health and safety protocols in response to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases, including the Delta variant, throughout New Jersey and in particular, Monmouth County.  

Effective tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 4 through Wednesday, Sept. 1, all members of the Monmouth University community and guests to our campus – regardless of vaccination status – will be required to wear masks indoors, except when eating and when sitting in a private office or residence hall room. This decision has been informed by prevailing guidance from the Center for Disease Control, as well as the Monmouth County Regional Health Commission.

Over the ensuing weeks, we will continue to monitor the public health situation and we will revisit our masking and other health and safety protocols for the fall semester later in the summer. The University continues to host vaccination clinics on campus for members of our community, as well as their immediate family members. Please continue to check your Monmouth email for information on upcoming clinics and if you have not yet been vaccinated, we urge you to do so as soon as possible. Likewise, we encourage you to continue thorough hand washing and sanitizing practices to help keep our community as healthy as possible. As a reminder, you are welcome to contact the Office of Student Life at x3417 to request and coordinate pick-up of a reusable Monmouth mask.

Thank you in advance for your continued cooperation as we work towards a safe and successful campus reopening this fall. As you well know, in order to preserve the health and safety of our entire community, each of us must commit to protecting all of us.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Colleagues:

Today, as we reopen our campus more fully to employees, I wish to extend both a warm welcome back and my sincere thanks for your continued loyalty and dedicated service to Monmouth. We look forward to re-establishing and renewing our sense of community and camaraderie in the coming weeks as we prepare for a new academic year.

I also wish to extend a special welcome to William (Bill) Siemer, who joins us today as the new Executive Director for Campus Planning and Facilities Management. As you may recall from my previous open calls with faculty and staff, Bill recently retired as Captain from the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, following an impressive 32-year military career. Bill succeeds Patti Swannack in the oversight of our campus planning, construction, and facilities management functions.

Most recently, Bill served as Executive Officer and Deputy Associate Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command in Norfolk, VA. In this capacity, he led an executive staff in the management of a 4,300-person civilian unionized team and oversaw the delivery of $4.1B in annual design, construction, and facilities services supporting 80 million square feet of facilities valued at $40.3B across 18 Navy and Marine Corps campuses.

Bill is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer, Certified Educational Facilities Professional, Certified Energy Manager, and a Level III (Senior) Contracting Officer for the U.S. Navy – specializing in Construction, Design, and Environmental contracts. Bill holds an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Please join me in welcoming Bill to Monmouth and thanking him for his exceptional service to our country. The senior administrative team and I are so pleased to have such an accomplished and collaborative leader in place to help ensure both the maintenance and the optimal utilization of our buildings and grounds within our fine campus.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

I write with additional information to help address outstanding questions and to clarify the thinking around our return-to-campus plans for the fall semester.

In anticipation of a full campus reopening in September including in-person academic delivery, co-curricular and extracurricular programming, support services, athletics training and competition, and residence halls at full occupancy, we will need our employees to be present on campus to most effectively serve our students, who are eager to return after the challenges of the past year and a half. The senior administrative team and I also look forward to having our employee community together again on campus to carry out Monmouth University’s mission.

Accordingly, it is our expectation that all staff employees will resume their pre-pandemic work arrangements by Monday, August 2, 2021. All faculty employees are similarly expected to return to campus for the start of fall classes, as is customary each fall semester. We have gone to great lengths to ensure a safe living, learning, and work environment for all on campus, and we are confident that our recently announced healthcare protocols will help to safeguard our community this fall. To achieve a full return of our workforce by these dates, I have asked each Division Head to determine the best return-to-campus schedule for their respective area.

While the remote work schedules in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic will end July 30, 2021, flexible schedules relating to work hours may be available for qualifying employees. Additionally, the voluntary reduced work schedule first announced on December 16, 2020, is still available for employees who are interested in reducing their current work schedule. In considering requests for any of these individual work arrangements, we will need to continue to prioritize the collective best interests of the University – and our students.

The University will continue to consider requests for reasonable accommodation(s) under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), if and where needed, to allow employees to perform the essential functions of their job. Any such requests should be directed to the Office of Human Resources. If you have other exceptional circumstances impacting your ability to return to campus on August 2, and would like to petition for an alternate work plan, you must notify your Division Head and the Office of Human Resources at humanresources@monmouth.edu by Friday, July 16, 2021. We will process these requests as quickly and carefully as possible, according to a variety of factors and, while there is no guarantee of approval, please know that we will try to be as reasonable and equitable as possible with our decision making.

If you have questions on these return-to-campus expectations, please direct them to the Office of Human Resources, at 732-263-5228 or humanresources@monmouth.edu. Our campus reopening this fall will require the best efforts from all of us. I am confident that our faculty and staff will continue to deliver the first-rate program that makes Monmouth University so distinctive and special for our students. I look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Pat

Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

On this final day of an academic and fiscal year that none of us will soon forget, I write with an administrative update on our division of academic affairs. Today marks the end of an exceptional two-year term of service for our Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Rekha Datta, who will return to our faculty as Professor of Political Science and the Freed Endowed Chair in Social Sciences.

I am grateful to Dr. Datta for her thoughtful leadership and for her extraordinary commitment to Monmouth’s mission during this time. Dr. Datta’s deep dedication to our students’ success is unequaled, and her reputation for routinely placing the needs and best interests of our students first is both accurate and well-earned. Our University was lucky to have had a leader as committed and compassionate as Dr. Datta for the past two years, and Monmouth has developed into a stronger community under her direction.

Dr. Pamela Scott-Johnson will be joining Monmouth University as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs on August 9, 2021. I look forward to welcoming her to our community at that time. In the intervening period, any questions or concerns of an academic nature can be directed to our Interim Associate Provost, Dr. Susan Forquer Gupta. I am grateful to Susan for her continuing service in the Office of the Provost.

I am equally thankful to each of you for your loyal service to Monmouth during the past year. I look forward to seeing you at our next regularly scheduled open call. Until then, please accept my best wishes for a Happy July 4^th weekend.

Sincerely,

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Colleagues:

Please remember that Monmouth University will be closed on Friday, June 18 in observance of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth commemorates emancipation and the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. In accordance with the State of New Jersey’s designation of Juneteenth as a public holiday, the University will recognize Juneteenth on the third Friday of June each year.

The observance of Juneteenth as an official University holiday presents an additional opportunity to renew our commitment to racial justice and equity across the Monmouth community. It is my fervent hope that each of us will take time to pause and reflect on the historic importance of Juneteenth, and to consider the ways in which we might continue to foster an inclusive and inviting community for all our members.

I am gratified by our ongoing efforts to address inequity wherever it exists, and to ensure that all feel welcome at Monmouth.

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Students:

With nearly three months to go before the beginning of the fall semester, I write to you with information on our plans for our full reopening in the fall. Following Governor Murphy’s recent announcement lifting many current COVID-19 restrictions throughout New Jersey, and pursuant to prevailing public health guidance from the CDC, Monmouth University is prepared to adopt and enforce the protocols below for the 2021-2022 academic year. If these entities change position on any of the areas below, then the University will reassess these protocols and communicate any updates accordingly.

Vaccination

The University has carefully considered the role that COVID-19 vaccinations will play in safeguarding the overall health and safety of the University community. We acknowledge that reaching a high vaccination level among our community is the most important factor in resuming in-person activities across campus this fall. Accordingly, the University is requiring every member of the Monmouth community (i.e., students, faculty, staff) to be fully vaccinated* OR have an approved exemption prior to returning to campus for work or school in preparation for the start of the fall 2021 semester.

To help facilitate a high vaccination level, we will continue to inform our community of vaccine clinics on and around campus, the next of which will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 in Anacon B at the Stafford Student Center. This clinic is sponsored by the VNA of Central Jersey, and both the Moderna and the J&J/Janssen vaccines will be available – at no cost – to Monmouth students, employees, and adult (18+ years) family members and friends. Please continue to monitor your Monmouth email over the coming days for additional details. In order to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the community, including, but not limited to our ongoing contact tracing efforts, we must also have up-to-date vaccination statuses on file for all of our members.

*A fully vaccinated individual has received the recommended dosage (including any booster shot) and completed the recommended waiting period (including the waiting period for any booster shot).

• Exemption Policy: The benefits of individual and widespread COVID-19 vaccination are well-documented. However, the University will allow individuals to petition for a vaccination exemption on medical or religious grounds, or on the basis of the COVID-19 vaccine’s current emergency use authorization (EUA) status.
  
  In each of these instances, students must file for an exemption through the Student Health Portal. Specific information about the exemption process will be available through Health Services. Medical exemption requests must be supported by documentation from a health care provider. If you have any trouble accessing a healthcare provider, please contact the Office of Health Services at 732-571-3464 or health@monmouth.edu for assistance. Religious exemption requests may only be established consistent with State law upon the grounds that the immunization interferes with the free exercise of the individual’s religious rights. EUA exemption requests will provide for a temporary exemption until such time as the FDA has effectively lifted the EUA for all current COVID-19 vaccines. The University reserves the right to request further documentation if needed to assess the request. Determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis.
• Documentation Requirement: To safeguard the health and well-being of our community, we are requiring every individual to provide up-to-date information on vaccination status (i.e., vaccination record or required exemption documentation) through the Health Portal by August 1. We encourage you to enter your vaccination information into the system as soon as possible to avoid any problems that may be caused by waiting until the last minute, particularly if an exemption is being sought.
• Impact on Unvaccinated Individuals: Those individuals who petition for exemptions will be subject to heightened health and safety protocols, in ongoing efforts to protect the community from the risk of COVID-19. The ability to attend Monmouth University this fall will be contingent upon compliance with these expectations. Examples of such increased health and safety measures include:
  • All residential students must provide evidence of a negative COVID test – completed no more than 72 hours in advance of move-in – prior to the designated move-in date.
  • Mask requirement indoors at all times.
  • Weekly surveillance testing requirement through Health Services.
  • Use of Campus Clear symptom tracking app whenever reporting to campus.
  • Unvaccinated individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for the duration of the isolation period – consistent with CDC and University guidelines – and class attendance policies will continue to apply to the required absences.
  • Unvaccinated individuals who come in close physical contact with someone who has COVID-19 must first report the exposure to Health Services, and then quarantine pursuant to local public health guidelines (7-10 days depending on evidence of negative test results), with no guarantee of remote learning availability during the quarantine, and class attendance policies will continue to apply to the required absences. Unvaccinated residential students will be required to quarantine in a designated facility on campus.
  • In the event of an outbreak among our campus community, unvaccinated students may be sent home. At such time of an outbreak, the University will need to revisit this policy and consider adjustments to current course modalities.
• Consequence for Noncompliance: Unvaccinated students who do not comply with the additional protocols outlined will face disciplinary action. Over time, recurrent failure to comply may lead to suspension of attendance and activities at the University.

Masking

According to the CDC, universal vaccination appears to be the most effective path forward to resuming pre-pandemic levels of normal activity. In addition to the vaccination mandate for all students, faculty, and staff, the University will continue to require masks in all classroom, lab, and teaching spaces, as well as the library, for everyone in attendance, regardless of vaccination status. Individual faculty and support staff may also require students visiting their respective offices to be masked before meeting. Masks will not be required outdoors or in other communal spaces on campus (e.g., dining hall, student center, fitness center, etc.), unless an individual is unvaccinated and/or exhibiting one or more COVID symptoms.

Social Distancing

Under Executive Order No. 242, the Governor recently relaxed the 6-feet social distancing requirement at all New Jersey institutions of higher education. However, out of an abundance of caution, the University will try, when possible, to establish 3-feet social distancing wherever any in-person instruction is taking place on campus (e.g., classroom, lab, teaching space, etc.). Individual faculty and support staff may also require students visiting their respective offices to adhere to the 3-feet social distance requirement.

Other Health and Safety Measures

Even though the CDC has stated that the risk for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects is very low, the University will continue to carry out enhanced cleaning and sanitizing efforts throughout all areas of campus.

Each of these protocols is subject to change based on any modifications to the prevailing public health guidance from the CDC, OSHE, and our local governing public health authorities. The University’s decision to require the vaccine, combined with these other health and safety measures, will help to ensure the continued protection of the community as the campus reopens this fall. Since its beginnings on our campus, this pandemic has required the will, understanding, and participation of each of us to protect all of us. After much consideration, these healthcare protocols emerged from this same spirit of caring for not only ourselves, but also for others, to help our University get back to normal operations as safely as possible.

We understand that you may have questions, and we plan to host informational Zoom sessions in the near future to address them. Please continue to monitor your student email account for additional details. Until then, feel free to direct any questions regarding our fall protocols and plans to Fall2021@monmouth.edu. Our staff is standing by to help you. As always, thank you for your caring commitment to our University community. We look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President

Dear Colleagues:

Earlier today on my open call with faculty and staff, it was my privilege to announce the 2021 Stafford Presidential Award of Excellence recipients, and I would like to share this good news with those who were unable to participate. 

This award was established to recognize an outstanding member of the University staff for his or her tireless efforts, dedication, creativity, and evident commitment to supporting and enhancing Monmouth. Ten individuals were nominated this year, and it is so gratifying to announce that there are two deserving recipients during such a challenging and unpredictable year – Kathy Maloney, Director of Health Services, and Harold Hillyard, Assistant Director of Residential Life.

Kathy was nominated for her passion and dedication to the Monmouth community. She worked non-stop during the pandemic – seven days a week – identifying COVID-19 positives and working with various local, state, and federal agencies in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Additionally, she collaborated with her colleagues to institute efficient procedures for testing and contact tracing.

Harold’s nomination noted his exceptional commitment and devotion to our community during a challenging year. He worked directly with Kathy and took the lead on the COVID-19 Contact Tracing and Response Team where he facilitated an on-call rotation, developed efficient contact tracing methods, and served as a liaison between the Health Center and the student body. 

Both Kathy and Harold have been very instrumental in helping to navigate our University through the challenges of the pandemic, and I am grateful to them for their support and service to our community. Please join me in congratulating Kathy and Harold on receiving this prestigious award.

Sincerely,

Pat

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy

President

Dear Monmouth University Community:

Nearly a year ago, the world witnessed the senseless death of George Floyd. Throughout this past year, our community has joined countless communities throughout the country – and indeed across the globe – in doing our small part to address injustice and inequity. Despite yesterday’s verdict, there is much work still to be done. My fervent hope is that we will use this historic moment as an impetus to further dedicate ourselves to the work of fighting for equity and justice.

This has been a difficult year for so many reasons. If you are struggling, please remember that there are many support services available to you on and off campus. The University has resources available through Counseling and Psychological Services and the Intercultural Center to support our members.

As we process these recent events, I thank you for your ongoing efforts to ensure that Monmouth University continues to foster a welcoming and inclusive campus where all feel safe, valued, and respected.

Dr. Patrick F. Leahy
President