Ast105 In-Person-Instruction Procedure for the COVID-19 Pandemic Period (subject to change as needed):

1. COVID-19 Guidance at UNLV
2. New guidance has been given effective 2022jul05: UNLV COVID-19: Information About: On-Campus Health Requirements (2022jul05): All instructors and students should read that over. See also CDC: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines Including Boosters (2022aug03).
3. Social distancing is NOT required by the guidance, BUT the Ast105 course will continue social distancing, except for students working in groups of two (see below). This is for the sake of the abundance of caution.
4. Instructors and students should wash their hands before and after class and avoid touching their face. This is for the sake of the abundance of caution. Hand sanitizers are located in the hall adjacent to the lab classrooms.
5. Note we have discontinued disinfection of lab classroom surfaces: keyboards, tables, chairs, etc. Disinfection seemed of negligible benefit given that virtually all infection is airborne. However, disinfection materials are kept on hand if we need to restart disinfection.
6. The lab period will run its usual full duration if the instructor decides to do that. However, the instructor can shorten the class period and require work that can be done remotely to be done remotely.
7. In order to have complete social distancing, we can do a rotation of students for lab nights when all three sections combined have more than 24 students so that all students can work alone. However, given current guidance for the 2022 spring semester, we do allow groups of two students for students who are willing and most are, and so rotation at present is not needed. Working in groups is more educational and fun for the students.
   When rotation is necessary some students do not come to class some nights and just work remotely. The senior instructor Raymond Gerard (rgirard.ast105@gmail.com) coordinates the rotation when needed.
8. If a student has been exposed significantly to person with c19, they should NOT come to class and should go into quarantine. For quarantine guidance see: CDC: Quarantine and Isolation (2021jul29) and Southern Nevada Health District COVID-19 Update: Quarantine Guidance, 2020dec02. From CDC: Quarantine and Isolation (2021jul29): "People who are fully vaccinated do NOT need to quarantine after contact with someone who had COVID-19 unless they have symptoms. However, fully vaccinated people should get tested 3-5 days after their exposure, even if they don't have symptoms and wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until their test result is negative."
9. If a student has c19, they should NOT come to class and should isolate and take good care of themselves. For isolation guidance see: CDC: Quarantine and Isolation (2021jul29). Students are advised to report voluntarily to UNLV if they have c19 using the UNLV online reporting form.
10. If a student reports to an instructor that they have c19, the instructor (with consultation with the Ast105 lab coordinator) must:
    1. Notify their chair (for UNLV Physics & Astronomy: Prof. Tao Pang, tao.pang@unlv.edu) AND dean (for UNLV College of Sciences: Prof. Eric Chronister, eric.chronister@unlv.edu probably best through executive assistant Rychelle Tomlin, rychelle.tomlin@unlv.edu) that a student has so reported, but the instructor CANNOT identify the student without the student's consent. What the chair AND dean do with this information is unspecified, but other than using it for statistical purposes, they can probably only do what the instructor has to do as specified below.
       Reference: See Reporting COVID-19 Cases.
    2. Urge the student to report their infection voluntarily to UNLV using the UNLV online reporting form. Reference: See Reporting COVID-19 Cases.
    3. Consult Clery Compliance Coordinator Ashleigh Angell (ashleigh.angell@unlv.edu) BEFORE issuing warnings to your section or anyone else. Reference: See Reporting COVID-19 Cases.
    The above guidance is from UNLV: Reporting COVID-19 Cases.
11. The intent of the Ast105 Pandemic Procedure is to reduce the risk of infection in class to being comparable to going to the grocery store.
12. The Ast105 Pandemic Procedure may need adjustment before or during the semester for improvements in safety or other improvements. However, a return to ordinary Ast105 procedure CANNOT be expected this semester.
13. Nota bene: The COVID-19 Pandemic may require a switch to Remote Instruction (RMI) at any time during the semester or before. How RMI is done depends on when the switch occurs and conditions at the time of the switch.
14. Nota bene also: Falling national and Nevada infection rates may cause new guidance that allows Ast105 to relax much of the Ast105 Pandemic Procedure. See Washington Post: c19 data page.
15. See also Covid-19 Guidance UNLV.

File: astlab_syl_pandemic.html