Dear PRTS Faculty, Staff, and Students,

I hope this update finds you all well!

The way we work, live, and learn keeps changing day-by-day as we continue to learn more about the spread of COVID-19 in our communities in Michigan, the USA, and around the world. Our desire is to join together and with others in seeking to make us as safe as possible as PRTS operates with a new Michigan order. We know that this is another adjustment that we need to make as a community even as we seek to stay connected.

As you may have heard or read by now, the Governor of the State of Michigan has issued a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order (see excerpt below):

Executive Order 2020-21 prohibits all businesses and operations from requiring workers to leave their homes, unless those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations. See this link for the full communication.

Consistent with this Executive Order, the PRTS Executive Committee is requiring staff and faculty to stay and work at home, with the exception of those conducting “minimum basic operations,” who can come in as needed. Faculty will continue to teach their courses via Zoom from home (and only if necessary, teach from the empty Zoom Room), and staff are to work from home as much as possible. If staff have a question concerning their status related to “minimum basic operations,” please contact Henk Kleyn (address at bottom). Students are not able under any circumstance to study on campus or to use the library for study purposes; while the library has many electronic resources which still can be used, the physical library will not be open. However, students can contact the librarian at [email protected], for online research and reference service. Students are encouraged to collect any necessary items from their study carrels before the library closes tonight at 8:00pm.

We ask that you continue to adhere to the directives/guidelines in your context as you and your loved ones strive to stay safe. Please feel free to share prayer requests and needs with us as well. We will see how God is at work during this time through our stories and our being connected.

Send your prayer requests to: [email protected]

If you have questions, please send them to Henk Kleyn at [email protected]

Sincerely,

Dr. Barrett, Dr. Beeke, and Henk Kleyn

Executive Committee