Keel: Augusta University "back to pre-COVID-19 normal" for vaccinated

Augusta University President Brooks Keel had a spoiler alert at the beginning of his townhall on Tuesday: it was "probably the last virtual townhall we will have to give," he said.

With fewer patients testing positive and more people fully vaccinated, for the fall semester "we are back to pre-COVID-19 normal," Keel said.

In the last week, the positive rate for COVID-19 was less than 5% and from a high of more than 120 COVID-19 patients in AU Medical Center "the census for this morning, June 1, was two," he said. "We couldn't be more excited about that."

Following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear a mask or to socially distance on campus when classes resume in the fall. As Keel spoke in the Lee Auditorium, the few staff that were there were mostly unmasked.

"Things are beginning to normalize and stabilize," he said. "That's the target. That's the goal, and we are well on our way to get there."

For the unvaccinated, they will be "strongly encouraged" to continue to wear a mask and socially distance whenever possible, he said. While they will be "strongly encouraged to get a vaccine," vaccination will not be mandatory, Keel said. The university will not be doing surveys to see who is or isn't vaccinated and there will not be "vaccination police" checking to see if someone has gotten their shots, he said.

"It's the honor system," Keel said.

With things returning to normal, teleworking should also end by June 30, and alternative work arrangements should end by the end of the month as well, he said. There might be some work that could be more efficiently done that way and "we want to be open to that," Keel said. "But that is the exception not the rule."

Not getting vaccinated is not grounds to seek an alternative work arrangement, he said.

"That is not going to be accepted," Keel said.

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The pandemic has opened the university's eyes to how much can be done online and AU is working on creating more online offerings even as other classes return to in-person, he said. A consultant has just turned in a report on how that could be done and AU is eager to "take it worldwide," Keel said.

The university is in the midst of a five-year strategic planning process and also planning to increase research through recruiting and planning for new facilities, he said.

As it emerges from the pandemic "we can't wait to see what Augusta University has in store for us over the next year," Keel said.