COVID-19 Action Plan - Australian Lutheran College
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COVID-19 Action Plan Australian Lutheran College Inc Australian Lutheran College (ALC) seeks to bear faithful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our new life through it. Our witness includes the care of people and creation as we study sacred theology and act in responsible and caring ways toward all people. ALC therefore seeks to promote learning and employment health and well-being for its students, staff, families and other guests within a safe and supportive environment. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens this. ALC will therefore implement practices to mitigate this threat by promoting: • Community identity and practices in Jesus Christ that are centred by regular community worship, and that are actively practised in clear Gospel witness and caring service for people • Community safety and well-being that is informed and guided by local, national and international health experts and authorities, as a shared community responsibility, and • Learning and employment continuity in the unstable COVID-19 pandemic context through adaptive and agile educational and employment practices. ALC is a community of learners. Safety and well-being are the responsibility of all people who associate with the College. This is irrespective of external and jurisdictional boundaries. The College expects that people not only consider and attend to their own well-being, but also the well-being of all persons who associate with the College in any way. To that end, all ALC community members are expected to consider how their own decisions and actions might affect, put at risk or benefit other members of the broad ALC community, together with the wider public. In addition to its Learning and Research services, and to identify the broad ALC community, the College also provides: • Business, corporate and maintenance services • Theological advisory services to external partners in the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand, together with the Church’s ecumenical partners • Library services, and • Residential accommodation services. ALC encourages everyone to take the broad scope of ALC activities into account with a view to the safety and well-being of all people when planning and undertaking any action. This is with particular attention to any person who might be at particular risk during this COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. certain age and immuno-compromised groups). Due to the constantly evolving medical knowledge of the effects of the virus, ‘at risk’ persons may not always be immediately identifiable within the community. ALC has completed and lodged a revised COVID-Safe Plan with the Government of South Australia. While specific to South Australia, this plan provides a framework for the general implementation of global values and procedures as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those values and procedures are primarily focussed on limiting the spread of COVID-19 by social distancing and proper hygiene practices. Both sets of practices are primarily a personal responsibility. ALC is concerned that such personal practices are consistently and properly practised within its community and it will act, wherever possible, to ensure this. C1175 Approved: 1/04/2021 Page 1 of 5 Australian Lutheran College
Social distancing values and procedures will not only inform and regulate human assembly and movement within any ALC environment, but must also inform procedures concerning all staff, student and guest travel. Hygiene practices not only apply to personal cleanliness, such as handwashing with soap, but also to the regular cleaning of all learning and workspaces. This will be primarily completed by those who use a space. This action plan is currently based upon the College’s COVID-Safe Plan. It seeks to apply the obligations and recommendations contained within that plan to ALC’s various operational and communal contexts. The plan is located within the College’s document management system, and is available via the College’s website. While federal and state emergency and health regulations will be the final authority in all decision making concerning ALC’s response to COVID-19, the College will also seek to comply, wherever possible, with the policies and expectations of the Lutheran Church of Australia, the University of Divinity and the Adelaide College of Divinity as some of the College’s key cultural and educational partners. There may be times when those expectations are in conflict. In such cases the College will seek to implement the higher expectation when it is judged reasonable to do so. This action plan will be reviewed when there is any change to federal or state government regulations and directions, and when any additional need for modification is identified. This plan needs to be agile due to the unstable nature of the pandemic context. In all cases this plan is superseded by any federal or state government emergency directions. Any person who is associated with ALC in any way is expected to take personal responsibility for being aware and fully appraised of those directions as part of general community expectations and responsibilities. COVID-SAFE PLAN: Obligations ALC’s COVID-Safe Plan relates to spaces where people gather as part of the College’s operation. ALC is permitted a maximum number of persons on its premises as specified in the COVID-Safe Plan. This excludes Hebart Hall staff offices, Graebner Hall, Hamann Hall residential, ALC student centre, all outside areas, and residential premises adjacent to Archer Street and Wellington Square, North Adelaide. This also excludes any ALC teaching or administrative site such as the Australian Catholic University, Brisbane. In such cases the College will comply with the COVID-SAFE plans of external, third party providers of learning facilities. Maximum numbers have been calculated for classroom and other assembly spaces. Those maximum numbers are posted at the entry to each room. Social distancing principles are mandated for all spaces directly or indirectly associated with ALC operations. Those principles state the maximum number of people per room or outdoor area and must not be exceeded. Further to this, people who do not cohabit must maintain a distance of 1.5 metres from each other at all times. ALC will keep an attendance record of people who attend all indoor, College activities through the use of either a state provided QR code or attendance sheets. Attendance sheets will be collected each day, scanned and stored. They will be made available to authorised officers upon request for the purpose of contact tracing. C1175 Approved: 1/04/2021 Page 2 of 5 Australian Lutheran College
COVID-SAFE PLAN: Recommendations Physical distancing When people gather as part of any ALC activity they must seek to maintain a distance of at least 1.5 metres from each other. This does not include people who normally live together. This will, however, inform the distribution of seating in all spaces for assembly. The distribution of seating and other furnishings will also inform the maximum numbers of people in any enclosed space. Further, do not assemble in the Hebart Hall courtyard as this forms a significant bottleneck at many points for people who move into and out of the building. If there is a need to gather, please move to one of the open, lawned areas adjacent to Hebart Hall. Hygiene It is expected that any person who accesses any ALC space will attend to regular hand washing with soap or a hand sanitiser. Hand sanitiser is provided at all entrance points into Hebart Hall and in other assembly areas. It is expected that each class will wipe down tables and chairs at the conclusion of the class. Failure to comply with the hygiene requirements may result in risk to users and the College having to call in additional professional cleaning services at significant expense. Response planning Staff and students must not attend any ALC site (personal residences excluded) and stay at home if they are unwell. If symptoms develop while on an ALC site, that staff member or student must advise the ALC Principal by email principal@alc.edu.au or telephone/SMS 0428 034 146 and immediately return directly to their home. COVID-19 compatible symptoms include: • fever • coughing • sore throat • shortness of breath In all cases, staff members and students must seek advice from their normal health provider, or SA Health, concerning any further action. All staff and students are expected to comply, to the fullest extent, with any medical direction or advice that they are given. The ALC Principal reserves the right to seek confirmation of medical advice and direction before allowing any member of the ALC community to return to the campus. This may include confirmation of COVID-19 test results. C1175 Approved: 1/04/2021 Page 3 of 5 Australian Lutheran College
The ALC Adelaide campus may be closed when staff, students or external guests have undergone COVID-19 testing. This is because of the close, communal nature of the ALC Adelaide site. The decision to close the campus will be informed by reported community COVID-19 transmission in Adelaide. The campus will be reopened when negative test results are returned. Should a positive COVID-19 test result be returned the campus will remain closed (see below.) Students and staff will be informed of these decisions via SMS and email. When possible, this will be by 4.30 pm as required. All members of the ALC community are encouraged to ‘check in’ with each other to ensure that messages are received and understood. In order to safeguard the well-being of the ALC community, staff and students travelling interstate are to advise the Principal’s Office of their travel plans prior to leaving South Australia. This includes dates of travel, state and area of visitation. Please note that it is a requirement of ALC that anyone travelling to regions where COVID-19 infection is detected, enters a period of mandated self- isolation prior to returning to any ALC site. They may further be required to undergo testing for COVID-19. The ALC Principal reserves the right to exclude any person from returning to the ALC campus until he is confident that all quarantining and precautionary steps have been observed. This may include a requirement for COVID-19 testing. Should a COVID-19 infection be detected and reported by any member of the ALC community, the Principal will: • Seek satisfaction that the person concerned is safe, has sought professional medical advice and is properly isolated from the ALC community; • Ensure that the relevant state health authority is notified; • Advise all members of the ALC community by email and SMS of the detection. This will allow members to assess their own exposure and likely risk; • Advise all significant College partners of the detection. This will include the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand, the University of Divinity and the Adelaide College of Divinity; • If appropriate, close the ALC site that is involved and initiate deep cleaning of that site; • Publish a notice on the ALC website and social media; • Manage all media enquiries. No other person is to respond to any external enquiry (media or other) on ALC’s behalf unless specifically authorised by the Principal to do so. COVID-19 Campus Marshals As of 21 August 2020, a COVID Marshal must supervise all ALC public worship activities in South Australia. COVID Marshals are people who are assigned to assist in the management of identified worship activities to apply the COVID-19 directions and restrictions. COVID Marshals are required to complete the prescribed SA Health COVID Marshal Training. A register of all trained COVID Marshals will be held by the Principal’s Office. Refer to https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/recovery/covid-marshals ALC continues to seek to support learning success In line with University of Divinity policy, flexible delivery of ALC classes will continue, supported through a mixture of learning modalities, including both on-campus and online options. Students will receive advice prior to the commencement of a semester as to the mode of delivery being offered by individual lecturers. C1175 Approved: 1/04/2021 Page 4 of 5 Australian Lutheran College
All scheduled classes have the capacity to be livestreamed. In the event of personal reasons preventing enrolled students to attend classes on campus (including people in at risk, immune- compromised categories) they are asked to inform the Dean, Dr Stephen Haar, as soon as possible, so all arrangements can be made to participate via livestream. Where students are absent from class due to illness, provision will be made for students to either access classes remotely or receive additional one-on-one support from lecturers. C1175 Approved: 1/04/2021 Page 5 of 5 Australian Lutheran College
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