State of Connecticut
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State of Connecticut HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT COMMITTEE LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING, ROOM 1800 HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1591 PHONE: (860) 240-0280 / FAX: (860) 240-8833 SENATOR WILL HASKELL CO-CHAIR August 20, 2020 President Ojakian, President Connecticut State Colleges and University System 61 Woodland Street Hartford, CT 06105 President Ojakian, On Thursday August 13, 2020 the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee held a listening session where we heard concerns from faculty and staff about the reopening of campuses for the fall semester. We appreciate the time and effort that you have put forth in creating your campus reopening plans. While not comprehensive, the list that follows comprises many of the suggestions we heard during the hearing: • Taking temperatures of all persons entering campus buildings, residential and academic • Increased testing for faculty, staff and all students, including at the Community Colleges • Pooling testing to reduce costs (UConn model) • Increased options for faculty and staff to work and teach virtually without the need to share private medical information • Increased flexibility in how professors teach their classes • Increased flexibility in teaching platforms and use of technology • Increased IT support for virtual learning platforms We respectfully request that you consider implementing these suggestions to help keep students, faculty and staff safe after reopening our public college campuses. To assist with the implementation of these recommendations, we request that you seek additional CARES Act funding through the Governor's office. We look forward to hearing from you with implementation plans. If you choose not to implement any of these ideas, we would appreciate hearing the rationale for your decision. Thank you, Gary Turco Will Haskell House Vice-Chair Senate Co-Chair State Representative, 27th District State Senator, 26th District Tony Hwang Carol Hall Senate Ranking Member House Ranking Member State Senator, 28th District State Representative, 59th District Gregory Haddad Jason Doucette State Representative, 54th District State Representative, 13th District James Maroney Kara Rochelle State Senator, 14th District State Representative, 104th District Derek Slap Brian Smith State Senator, 5th District State Representative, 48th District Charlie Stallworth Robert Sanchez State Representative, 126th District State Representative, 25th District Mary Mushinsky Harry Aurora State Representative, 85th District State Representative, 151st District Mae Flexer State Senator, 29th District .