POSTED MARCH 13, 2020 - INFORMATION MAY HAVE CHANGED. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR AND HR REGARDING SPECIFIC QUESTIONS.

Sent on behalf of President Downs and Senior Cabinet.

Everyone,

Due to COVID-19, Governor Noem has declared a State of Emergency in South Dakota. She has also issued two executive orders (EO 2020-04 and EO 2020-05) which affect Northern. Please note: There have been no identified cases of COVID-19 virus at Northern, Aberdeen, and Brown County at this time.

Per Executive Order 2020-05, which is effective from 12 a.m. on Sunday, Mar. 15, through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 21, all work-related out-of-state travel is prohibited and all non-essential personnel shall work remotely and not report to work. If non-essential personnel are not capable of working remotely, they shall be granted administrative leave. All essential personnel shall report to work as scheduled.

Senior Cabinet will be communicating by 5 p.m. today with their respective units on who is classified as essential; therefore, expected to report to work next week.

Northern’s campus is still open for basic business operations; however, not all functions of campus will be operating at full capacity. Campus visits for prospective students have been canceled for March 15-21, and all large campus events have been cancelled or postponed through March 31.

Dining Services, Residence Life and other essential units will continue to operate.

We ask for your patience as we work through this unprecedented matter. Our priority remains the safety of our campus community.