Pablo Arauz Peña, KTOO

The University of Alaska Southeast has posted its pandemic plan for the upcoming semester. It includes guidelines for students, faculty, staff and visitors.

Lori Klein is a vice chancellor at UAS, responsible for enrollment and student affairs. She said an estimated 60% of the 250 UAS classes in Juneau will be held in person. 

“Our faculty have been working very closely with our facilities and health and safety staff to take a look at each individual classroom and prepare that classroom and that faculty member for teaching face-to-face, to ensure the safety of everybody who steps in that classroom,” she said.

Following federal guidelines, staff will clean classrooms thoroughly, and hand sanitizer and disposable masks will be available. That applies to all three UAS campuses, in Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka.

“We’re asking all students and folks coming out to campus to wear face coverings, like most places in town,” said Klein. “Our faculty will wear face coverings. All of our staff who come out to campus will also have face coverings in our classrooms.”

As for students living on campus, the university is reducing the number of students who can live in each unit from 4 to 2. And if there’s a positive COVID-19 case on campus, there are units set aside for quarantine.

“We can assist them with getting food and laundry services in their quarantine unit. And so that we can provide sort of that wraparound service, we’ll have a team of folks who just check in on mental health needs and wellness needs and academic needs,” said Klein.

Classes at UAS begin on August 24.

In this newscast:

• Alaska is well behind other states in the 2020 Census as census efforts continue throughout the U.S.
• The 2020 Alaska Day Festival in Sitka has been cancelled because of the steady increase in coronavirus infections in the state.
• The Central Council of Tlingit and Haida India Tribes has a proposal to build not one, but two re-entry housing facilities in Lemon Creek for men recently released from prison.

In this newscast:

• Juneau’s police department followed the lead of other communities in Alaska and made its policies and procedures manual available to the public on Monday.
• Despite Mertarvik residents reporting numerous health improvements since moving from Newtook, the new village also presents some significant health risks.
• The start of the school year for students in Juneau is about four weeks away and families still have a lot of questions about how kids will be educated during the pandemic.
• A rocket will be sent into space from Kodiak next week with more set to be launched later after a delay in the launch schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this newscast:

• Scientists, emergency managers and Juneau residents are bracing for an event at the Mendenhall Glacier that could flood a nearby lake and river again.
• Cities, boroughs and communities across Alaska have received over $300 million in federal coronavirus relief, but the funding comes with significant strings attached.
• Echo Ranch Bible Camp has canceled all remaining summer camp sessions after two campers were tested for COVID-19.

In this newscast:

• Even when the owners of a local seafood processor thought they did everything right to keep their business running, the virus still found its way into the facility.
• Just 24 hours after the filing period opened to run for Sitka Assembly and School Board, Gary Paxton filed for reelection as Sitka’s mayor on Tuesday.
• An inmate who was briefly jailed at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau tested positive for COVID-19 this week.

In this newscast:

• A Juneau man is accusing the police department of using excessive force and racially profiling him during a recent traffic stop..
• The Food Bank of Alaska says the coronavirus pandemic has had a “dramatic impact” on the need for food assistance in the state.
• Starting today state workers and people who visit state buildings will be required to wear masks.
• The mayor of Anchorage is limiting gathering sizes and the number of people allowed in certain businesses in response to rising coronavirus cases.
• The Bureau of Land Management has approved the proposed route for the controversial Ambler Road project.