Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I have just a few brief updates for you today.
Vaccine Availability
All Minnesotans age 16 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This news brings optimism for summer gatherings with family and friends, followed by a successful return to more typical in-person operations in the fall.
Locally in Duluth, both Essentia Health and St. Lukes have available access to the vaccine. As well, this list of weekly St. Louis County vaccine registration links is updated regularly. In the meantime, we must also continue the preventive measures we've embraced. We will continue to wear face coverings and rely on testing, physical distancing, avoiding large gatherings with those outside of our immediate family or friends, and staying home if we feel ill.
Find COVID vaccine information on the Safe Campus vaccine page. The UMD Safe Campus website continues to be a good source of information for campus-related pandemic information.
Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs
The search committee for the University's inaugural Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs recommended Karen Diver, Director of Business Development for Native American Initiatives at the University of Arizona, as a finalist. We will share a link to Karen's public presentation next week when she will address her vision for the Office of Indian Affairs at the University of Minnesota. As part of her presentation, Karen will also address questions from the University community. If you would like to propose a question for Karen to address, please submit your question online.
International Travel
The restriction on University-purpose international travel remains in effect until April 30, 2021. (Note: This restriction does not apply to personal travel.) Depending on the public health situation and guidance from state and national health experts, the restriction may be extended into the spring or early summer. An exception process for faculty, staff, and graduate students who must travel internationally as part of their University research or scholarship remains available. A similar exception process is now available for undergraduate students planning essential University-purpose travel to lower-risk international destinations (defined by University policy as those designated by the U.S. State Department as Travel Advisory Level 1 or 2). Guidance on international travel is available from the U.S. Department of State.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
