Dear Pacific faculty and staff,

As we shared earlier today, university leadership and the COVID-19 Council are implementing several requirements effective Jan. 4, 2022, in response to the rise of the COVID-19 omicron variant to protect the health and safety of our communities.

The following information is specific to employees to ensure that we continue to provide a safe and effective educational environment for our students:

Returning to campus/working remotely:

• We will stagger employees’ return to campus in order to best serve our students.
• Returning Jan. 4:
  • University leadership, including cabinet and the deans.
  • Selected employees whose physical presence is a high priority to the support of students and university operations. Your supervisor will contact you if you are to return to campus Jan. 4.
• Other employees will work remotely and return at a later date, to be determined. Details to follow as we get closer to Jan. 18. You will receive details from your supervisor in a follow-up communication.
• Employees who will be working remotely and need office equipment to perform their work should make arrangements with their supervisor to return to campus only long enough to pick up their equipment.

Required testing and expectations:

• All employees will be required to be tested on campus when they return and before they can work on campus.
• To maintain data integrity and allow us to track completion of testing requirements, we will not accept test results from other providers.
• Initial return to campus testing will be staggered for students and employees. Pacific uses rapid tests and results will be available within approximately 15 minutes.
• We will prioritize testing for employees who are required to return on Jan. 4. Your supervisor will send you recommended times to report for testing.
• If you are not required to be on-campus on January 4, please do not visit the testing sites so we can prioritize access to testing for those who have the earlier return dates.
• Testing will be available on all three campuses:
  • Stockton Campus: testing will be at the Tri-Delta House Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–6 p.m., beginning January 4. Expanded Saturday hours will be announced soon.
  • Sacramento Campus: testing will be available Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., beginning January 4. Location and expanded Saturday hours will be announced soon.
  • San Francisco Campus: you will receive separate instructions regarding testing.
• If you test negative, you are expected to return to campus as scheduled.
• If you test positive:
  • Following CDC and state public health guidelines, you will be required to isolate for five days. If, after five days, you have a negative test and are symptom-free, you are expected to return to campus as scheduled. You must have negative test results before returning to campus.
  • If you test positive and are symptom-free: you can work remotely.
  • If you test positive and have symptoms: you should see your health care provider and use sick leave.
• After your initial return test, you will be required to be tested on campus weekly while the omicron variant continues to spread through our three campus counties. We will communicate further about ongoing testing requirements.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we plan for a safe start to 2022. Please watch for additional messages from your supervisor and/or the university as we approach your return to campus date.

If you have further questions, please email Pacific’s COVID-19 Council at COVID-19_information@pacific.edu.

Sincerely,

Maria Pallavicini
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
COVID-19 Council Co-chair

Maria Blandizzi
Vice President for Student Life
COVID-19 Council Co-chair