SCO COVID-19 News & Updates

Dear SCO community,

Earlier this week, I was talking to a student who just taken Part I of her National Boards. She was very upbeat and optimistic about her experience. Our students are really adapting well, even when it means taking boards wearing PPE. 

This week, the SGA president and third-year class president met with Clinical Program administrators and shared good suggestions on how we can refine scheduling before the fall semester to maximize patient care encounters for our interns. It's great to see so many people in good spirits. I'm proud of everyone's positive morale. 

Our safety protocols also continue to work. By comparison with Shelby County and the surrounding area, SCO continues to weather the COVID-19 storm thanks to the SCO community taking this health crisis seriously. Don't let down your guard so we can continue moving forward.

Some updates this week:

• Academic Affairs is working on accreditation-related documents and progress reports that provide details about how SCO has responded during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Alternative lab spaces will temporarily take up a lot of spots around campus this fall.
• Virtual interviews will begin next week with prospective students. 
• Fifteen third-year students have volunteered to continue seeing patients during break week later this month. We appreciate them for assisting with patient care and building up their patient care encounters which will be logged. 
• Staff should look for an email from Tracy Lindow in Human Resources about the continued need to help out whenever and wherever needed in the coming months.
• We are moving our virtual Convocation ceremony from September 2 to the middle of the month. Invitations will be extended to faculty and staff.
• Information Services is testing a thermal camera kiosk which can record a person's temperature and assist with the pre-screening process. Stay tuned.
• The numbers for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 show that we missed our budget by 1.8%, decent under the difficult circumstances. Employees are encouraged to be mindful of our operating budget this year given the uncertainties of the pandemic.
• The college is also watching the General Assembly's special session next week to see how liability limitations may be implemented for healthcare providers and colleges.

Last, I wanted to mention that our Security, Student Services, Information Services, and Communications Departments have collaborated to help process badges in advance for our entering students. First-year badges will be ready when they arrive later this month, saving them time and the need to line up socially distanced for a photo. 

It's this kind of collaboration that sets SCO apart and has kept the college moving forward the last few months. Working together is a positive accomplishment. I'm appreciative to everyone for wearing your mask, social distancing, washing your hands, and being mindful and safe in public spaces. Keep up the great work! 

Stay safe,
Lewis Reich

Dear SCO community,

We need to face facts.  The COVID-19 numbers are quite alarming, nationally and locally. If you aren't paying attention, you should:

• Shelby County reported a 18.1% positive rate on new cases today. A rate of 5% or less for 14 days straight is needed to contain a pandemic.
• 90% of ICU beds are being used in our region, and Mississippi set a new hospitalization record yesterday.
• Georgia Tech has mapped infection rate risks for every county in a new interactive map. In a gathering of 50 people within Shelby County, there's a 91% chance that at least one person is infected. It's worth a look: https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/

What does this mean for SCO? It hit home for us personally when four students tested positive in recent weeks. Currently the testing backlog is creating a longer wait for results. This means someone who has recuperated could require an additional week or more of self quarantine before being cleared to return back to campus. Going to a group gathering and finding out that someone else was infected may mean a period of disruptive but necessary isolation that could have been avoided. Don't take that risk.

For students, an excessive, extended absence also could mean that someone may not graduate on time. It would be unfortunate if a student had to spend another term in order to complete our curriculum requirements, but SCO must ensure that our graduates meet the highly defined standards of our optometry program.

Right now, this scenario isn't our reality, so I note this risk to encourage everyone to take this seriously. SCO prioritized the health of our students, employees and patients from the start of the outbreak. Testing helped us catch infections. Our pre-screening program is an extra step to come on campus. We're ahead of other organizations still figuring out the measures we adopted early.

Here on campus, please continue to wear your mask, social distance, and frequently wash your hands. Everyone is on the honor system when you're away from campus but staying safe will benefit us all. Reducing our exposure risks and infection rates is the only real way that we can carry out our mission in a pandemic.

There are some bright spots. A food truck is visiting each week, a new dining services vendor has been selected, and Casey Krug, '21, was named AOSA Student of the Year. She's the third SCO student to receive this honor within the last six years and we're very proud of her!

We're looking forward to welcoming our new entering class next month. We've had patients express their appreciation for finally getting an eye exam. And even with staggered and remote schedules, our employees are grateful that the campus is back open.

Please continue to be diligent during these challenging times. I appreciate your continued commitment. 

Lewis Reich

Dear SCO family,

As we get ready to welcome our second-year students to campus Thursday for their COVID-19 testing, it's a good opportunity for an update a few weeks into our campus reopening.

First, thank you for your continued cooperation in making our new normal work. Just getting your temperature checked is a different way of coming onto campus. It's a big adjustment but these measures are also why SCO is ahead of some of our sister institutions in being able to resume our mission as safely as possible.

Please know that COVID-related decisions are being made by a group of dedicated people with background knowledge and daily access to resources for our safety protocols. This past weekend saw the first practice session in our theory labs. These are important steps ahead of our third-year students moving into patient care within the next two weeks. Behind the scenes, individuals worked throughout the weekend to clean equipment and surfaces. 

Many within the President's Council get emails or calls daily with a lot of very good questions. Some of the circumstances are unique, so we handle these individually. One very complex scenario we're evaluating includes training additional staff members to assist with contact tracing in the event that someone at SCO tests positive, determining the standard questions that need asking, and creating a flow chart to help guide the next steps in this process. 

Just to be clear:

• We will communicate to the broader community when an employee or student initially tests positive.
• Specific notifications are being communicated to individuals who come into direct contact with a student or employee who is self-quarantining. 
• If an employee or student comes into contact with an external positive case resulting in their self-quarantine, that scenario involves a more limited scope of notification, usually related to work area or lab schedules.
• Remember, that unless you specifically come into close proximity with an infected person without proper protection, the CDC's guidelines for masking, frequent handwashing, and social distancing are still recommended as guidance for minimizing your risk.

Elsewhere: 

• We're fielding questions about the plans of different school systems to reopen and how that affects employees with children. 
• The academic calendar was revised to note that break weeks are fluid and may be reclaimed for instruction days if circumstances warrant. 
• And on a happier note, we've also finalized plans to bring food trucks to campus at least one day a week for much of the summer. 

Through these changes, we work to find the balance between our collective public health and transparency. Please remember that each of us has a responsibility to protect this delicate balance. Our students count on us to provide a safe environment so they can successfully complete their education and become ODs. Our faculty and staff depend on us as their place of employment. And our patients rely on us for their eyecare. 

I will remind you to take COVID-19 seriously. Tennessee and Shelby County are hot spots with infection and hospitalization rates spiking. We're all adults, so I encourage you to be responsible regarding where you go and and what you do away from SCO if it might jeopardize your health or someone else at SCO. Remember that fellow employees, students, or even patients might be disappointed if they saw an ill-timed social media post or heard about a risky public behavior taken by anyone affiliated with SCO as a college and healthcare provider. 

We're each obligated to act ethically because our health and success depends on each of us trusting each other to do the right thing and to be truthful with our screening process. While it may be more difficult than ordinary times, we can make this succeed by working together. 

Thanks to each of you for your continued diligence and commitment to helping keep our mission moving forward as safely as possible.

Lewis Reich

Dear SCO Family,

I hope you had an enjoyable and safe Memorial Day weekend. The holiday reminds us that we're getting closer to our planned reopening, with employees returning the week of June 8 and then June 15 for third- and fourth-year students with clinic and lab assignments.

Our protocols are still being finalized. As you will see, there will be a lot of new information to digest because things will be drastically different on campus this summer.

For instance, we're removing chairs from the lobby in The Eye Center because we're not permitting patients to bring visitors, other than those accompanying minors or with patients who require assistance. That space will be used for temperature screenings for patients with appointments. The clinic protocols alone will outline a significant amount of critical information designed to keep everyone involved as safe as possible in a patient care setting. 

Additionally, the Activity Center will not be open this summer for fitness activities because it will be used as a supplemental lab area. 

To go over details and questions that you may have, the following virtual town halls will be held:

• Faculty and staff on June 3 at 10:30 am
• Third- and fourth-year students with on-campus assignments on Wednesday, June 3 at 6 pm
  
  Be thinking of the questions that you may want to ask at the June 3 town halls by submitting them in advance. Faculty should send questions to Dr. Wil McGriff, staff to Tracy Lindow, and students to Joe Hauser.

Again, we will be sharing concrete details, but as of now, the plan is to test all employees for COVID-19 with everyone participating on a schedule. We're still working on details for student screenings. 

To our employees, we must limit your presence on campus whenever possible. Human Resources is working with managers to finalize schedule templates, but we must change our mindset for the interim future. We are encouraging employees NOT to come to campus unless your manager requires it. Those who can work from home at least part-time should be doing that on this continued interim basis, even though the campus is reopening.

We are adopting this interim model of remote working because it's safer. For our third- and fourth-year students to be able to complete their necessary patient care encounters and socially distanced lab experiences, we must minimize the number of people on our campus. As previously communicated, we will only be seeing half the normal amount of patients because of the safety measures that must be implemented.

Similarly, over this summer students will be required to come to campus for their labs and clinic assignments, with minimal time permitted to be on campus in between schedules. Otherwise, all studying must be conducted off-campus.

These measures are the best possible solutions to make our daily operations possible to carry out. The idea is to minimize the risks to everyone involved by permitting employees to work from home and encouraging students to limit their time on campus to an as-needed basis.

Thank you all for your cooperation. Remaining flexible and positive in the coming weeks will help us to succeed in resuming our operations in this interim capacity to the benefit of everyone involved.

Lewis Reich, O.D., Ph.D.
President

Dear SCO family,

Our summer semester is off to a great start, with our third-year students already participating in online lectures this week. 

We recently surveyed employees for them to self-identify vulnerabilities needed for scheduling remote work or childcare needs. A similar survey is being developed for our students. 

We are planning virtual campus-wide meetings to discuss a lot of the specific protocols that are being finalized for our safety. Be thinking of questions. This is new for all of us, so there's even more information to learn.

In the interim, it's important to read these email updates. Pay attention as we near reopening so you know how these plans affect you.

Here are critical points to emphasize this week:

Travel

• Students: Next week, third-years and fourth-year interns with SCO clinical rotations will start returning to Memphis so they're here by June 1. This gives them a two-week window to make sure they're free of COVID-19 symptoms before coming to campus on June 15.
• Employees: If you have trips planned, please rethink them if they are out of state. Also plan to to be in town for the two weeks prior to return to campus. If you travel outside Memphis, please let your supervisor know.
• Students driving to Part III of their rescheduled NBEO exams this summer may be reasonably accommodated if extra travel time is needed and requested in advance.

Reopening

• Employees will return to work the week of June 8. HR is emailing those who have self-identified the need for interim accommodations to continue working remotely from home.
• Third-year interns and summer fourth-year interns are returning for labs and clinic assignments starting June 15. 
• Second-year interns will join us later in July. Summer didactic instruction will continue to be held online.
• To spread out labs for social distancing, lanes will be set up in areas like the eighth floor and the Activity Center. 
• To maintain social distancing, students will not be permitted to study in groups and should generally plan to leave campus when clinic or lab assignments are completed to minimize exposure.

Schedules

• Not everyone will be on campus at the same time this summer. Many departments are developing staggered schedules for staffing that will enable us to minimize the amount of people on campus each day. 
• Some people may be in the office in the morning, only to switch out with someone else in the afternoon.
• Clinical schedules have also been developed to limit the numbers of people in each suite and commons areas.
• With staggered schedules, not everyone will arrive at the same time each day. This will be necessary for the temperature screenings required to enter through designated checkpoints.
• For employees who clock into ADP, we are looking at plans for cleaning kiosks or allowing mobile device logins to reduce touchscreen cross-contamination risks. 
• We're also finalizing details to communicate about library hours.

COVID-19 Testing

• SCO is negotiating with several firms. We will select one to assist with administering COVID-19 tests for all employees. Schedules will be communicated in advance.

Food

• We continue to interview prospects for our fourth floor dining vendors.
• Keep in mind there will be no fresh food options this summer on campus other than vending machines. 
• Seating sections of the fourth floor will be partitioned off to maintain proper social distancing because of the aerosol risks involved when people take off masks for eating and drinking.

Masks

• As communicated last week, anyone on the SCO campus must wear a mask. This is not optional. 
• A supply of surgical masks will be provided to Security to give to anyone coming to campus over the next few weeks without a mask. 
• Masks are to be worn in public areas or well-traveled areas like elevators. Masks can be removed in the privacy of an office.
• Masks will continue to be required when we reopen.

FocalPoint at Crosstown Concourse

• Crosstown Concourse similarly requires anyone entering the building to wear a mask. If you don't have one, two on-site spots are selling them.
• Temperature and safety screenings will be performed just inside FocalPoint.
• Patient care delivery protocols are as stringent as those for The Eye Center and being finalized in conjunction with Church Health's eyecare colleagues.

University Eyecare

• University Eyecare will remain closed for the rest of the summer.
• Staffing is being reassigned temporarily to our other clinical facilities.

Conclusion

Just reading these plans, you can see how detailed and involved many of the new protocols will be. Like much of the country, our leadership team had to rethink or reinvent how we conduct much of our daily business.

Our mission, however, remains the same, and we're committed to providing the best optometric education possible, outstanding patient care, and a safe campus atmosphere for us all.

We're all looking forward to being together again - safely distanced and masked - soon!

Lewis Reich, O.D., Ph.D.
President

Dear SCO Family,

First, congratulations to SCO's Class of 2020 as we celebrate them becoming Doctors of Optometry on what would have been their commencement day. We're very proud of all the award recipients who were honored earlier today. Thanks to all the faculty and staff who worked to create the online program and the students who participated. 

Our Student Services team will be verifying board requirements have been met so transcripts can be sent. They're also making plans to mail diplomas. I know our new graduates are eager to start practicing this summer.

The President's Council has continued to meet, so here are some key updates:

• A more detailed summer schedule message will be shared with our new fourth- and third-year students, but we are asking that they plan to return to Memphis on June 1. This will give them time to prepare for our planned June 15th reopening, including the two week period of self-isolation or social distancing recommended, depending on their travel mode and interaction with others on their way back to Memphis. 

• The second-year mini-term is scheduled to begin July 13, so those students should expect to receive similar travel instructions at the appropriate time.

• Our Financial Aid and Accounting teams have been working to prepare materials to be sent to students ahead of their May 18 registration date. 

• The leadership team is providing feedback on some very detailed protocols for our campus safety when we return. As you can imagine, there are many details still to be determined, like where to use thermal temperature checks to screen arriving employees and students in different locations each day. 

• As you might expect, there will be rigorous Personal Protective Equipment used for patient care and in clinical settings. Our Clinical Programs are continuing to receive shipments of PPE. More than 40,000 masks will have arrived in a couple of weeks if shipping proceeds as indicated. 

• Masks also will be required and provided to employees and staff outside clinic settings in the tower. These measures, along with continued social distancing, will help us do our part to keep each other as safe as we can.

• Human Resources is working on other measures to determine individuals who may be more at risk, as well as strategies for making sure that we do all that we can to promote a healthy work environment. At the appropriate time, everyone will be required to read and acknowledge these new procedures similar to how we review our student or employee handbooks.

Some of these topics may be discussed in more detail on Wednesday's faculty and staff calls, but please bear with us as we finalize more detailed policies and procedures. As others begin to reopen slowly, their best practices may benefit us throughout May as we work toward our own reopening timeline.

I look forward to talking with employees tomorrow and seeing students in June. Please continue to stay safe and healthy to help make this a reality. 

Best regards,
Lewis Reich

SCO campus,

Today's update predominately includes important information for our students, but I'm including the entire campus, so everyone hears this at the same time. There are some critical details to share today.

Remainder of this semester

With explicit federal guidance advising complete social distancing through April 30 (with a possibility that this will need to be extended), the campus must remain closed for the rest of this semester.

As far as didactic courses, we will continue with online participation through the end of this semester. All students must continue to participate and complete all online classes and exams in order to get a grade.

Even though SCO has advised you to shelter in place, we ask that you use your own best judgment about your own plans. Please know that if you return home, you should seriously take into account the risks involved with traveling either by plane or by car. You should also factor the COVID-19 infection numbers if you live in one of the most at-risk areas.  If you travel to another state, please make sure that you are familiar with the COVID-19 precautions there.

Wherever you decide to finish this semester, you must have high-speed Internet access in order to finish your online academic requirements.

For the Classes of 2020 and in particular the Class of 2021, even if you go home, you are still expected to participate in online instruction as required as we continue to monitor and assess plans for the future administration of your clinical education curriculum.

The Class of 2020 will be involved in the planning of their commencement exercises to be held at the appropriate time, once it is safe to do so.

Return to campus

Based on the available data, our current plan is that the campus will reopen for instruction on June 15. Faculty and staff would need to arrive several days before the students in order to get the campus ready for a regular resumption of our normal schedule. A date will be communicated at the appropriate time for employees. Please understand that factors beyond our control may require us to change this anticipated return date.

Dr. Lindsay Elkins is finalizing a plan on the resumption of labs and didactic instruction. Then, plans for clinical instruction will be put into place. This information will be communicated well in advance, and should allow for completion of instruction missed by our forced closure concurrent with the summer term,

We anticipate registration will happen as normal this fall for our incoming first-year students and our rising second- and third-year classes. Depending on the resumption of our normal schedule, we will look at the appropriate timeline for our fourth-year class. Should we have a delayed registration for our rising fourth year students, we are reviewing options to help ensure that you can receive the loans for which you applied to cover living expenses. 

Tuition

The administration is pleased to announce that there will be no tuition increase for the 2020-21 academic year.  Though our anticipated reopening plans support all current class years completing the program in four years, should the Class of 2021 have to complete a portion of the program in the summer of 2021, there will be no additional tuition cost beyond what is currently committed for a four-year program completion. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, this update involves a lot of information. This crisis continues to unfold. If you've seen today's reports, our country's infection rate curve is sharply higher than that of China or Italy, the two countries previously most affected. 

It is anticipated that April will be a critical time for our country. Social distancing is scientifically cited as the most critical tool in the public health arsenal for minimizing exposure and infection risk. I ask that each of you continue to take this seriously in order for us to contribute to our nation's recovery as soon as possible.

In the interim, online Q&A sessions are being planned for faculty, staff, and students to answer more questions in-depth. Some of the answers may involve follow-up given that these plans are being formulated remotely by the administration. 

Thanks to each of you for taking the time to read this critical update, 

Lewis Reich
President

At Southern College of Optometry, the health and safety of our patients and campus community is a critical priority. With the national coronavirus (COVID-19)  cases reported in Tennessee and other states, we will continue to monitor the outbreak. Based on recommendations of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other appropriate health agencies, we are working to keep our campus clean and safe.

With prevention being the best protection against the coronavirus and other infectious diseases, we are encouraging patients to reschedule appointments if they are ill (coughing, sneezing, fever, shortness of breath, or other serious symptoms). Frequent handwashing is crucially important. Signage has also been placed in our clinics to reinforce this message and to encourage handwashing.

If you have additional questions or concerns about this outbreak, we encourage you to monitor updates from the local health authorities and the CDC. Thank you for working with us to keep us all safe and healthy.