Thiel Happenings

Incoming Thiel College students leading third annual food drive for Greenville community

On Sunday, August 22, first-year students at Thiel College will be holding the third annual community food drive in the morning to benefit Greenville’s Good Shepherd and Salvation Army food pantries.

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Opening Convocation kicks off return to Common Hour programming at Thiel College

Thiel College is returning to its Common Hour series for the 2021—2022 academic year highlighted by the Class of 2025 Opening Convocation at 11 a.m. Aug. 26 in the William A. Passavant Memorial Center.

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Thiel College recognizes milestone employees on a combined service of 365 years

Thiel College recognized 27 employees for their combined service of 365 years.

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Campus clean up effort draws a crowd

Members of the campus community gathered on Aug. 12 to pitch in and clean up campus. 

HR Memo: Regarding COVID-19 Policy and Procedures - Health and Safety Plan

As Thiel College begins the 2021/22 academic year with hope and excitement, we also remain focused on the safety and well-being of our students and community. The 2021-22 Health and Safety Plan addresses ways the College plans to help mitigate the spread of COVID on our campus community. 

• Download the policy and procedure brief.

Central to the College’s Health and Safety Plan is communicating with students, faculty, and staff about the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines, now readily available and free of charge. We have shared information about the recommendations by the CDC, the PA Department of Health, and the NCAA that students, faculty and staff at higher education institutions take advantage of COVID-19 vaccines to keep themselves, their families and the campus community safe.  We have asked all employees to consult with their health providers regarding these recommendations for college and university faculty and staff.     

With the arrival of a larger number of students to campus, the College has updated its face-covering/masking policy and established testing protocols for students who are not vaccinated.  To ensure the safety of the campus community and consistency in Thiel’s Health and Safety plan, the testing requirement is being extended to all Thiel employees. 

Beginning this week, employees who have chosen not to receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine are required to get a weekly PCR test from a licensed pharmacy, medical facility or provider (no rapid or home tests) and submit proof of a negative test result to Human Resources at humanresources@thiel.edu.  Therefore, the first test collection must take place between today and Friday, August 20, 2021, with results submitted by August 23, 2021. 

At this time, Campus Health Services is not doing surveillance testing for employees due to the number of student tests they will be performing.  While that may be possible when the number of students and employees needing testing decreases, at this time, employees needing to be tested must use off-campus sites with many readily available in Greenville. 

Compliance with the Campus Health and Safety Plan, including current face-covering/masking and testing policies is mandatory for all employees.  Remote work will not be authorized in lieu of following these policies.

The College will be hosting several on-campus walk-in vaccination clinics throughout the fall semester, with the first one taking place today during campus community hour from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm.  Employees are welcome to make arrangements to attend an off-site vaccination clinic as well.  Employees who submit proof of their first dose will not be required to continue weekly testing while waiting for their second dose.  Employees must update Human Resources with their vaccination status and submit a copy of their vaccine card/record.  

From the CDC:

“COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus that typically causes mild to moderate illness, but can lead to dangerous complications. Some individuals are more likely to develop serious illness including hospitalization, intensive care unit admissions, and death. The COVID-19 vaccine has been carefully evaluated in clinical trials and has been authorized for use because it makes it substantially less likely an individual will contract COVID-19 and become seriously ill. Per the CDC, “COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and free.” Getting vaccinated not only protects the person who is vaccinated, but may also protect others, particularly those who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.”

As a reminder, all employees are required to complete the COVID-19 vaccination census (COVID-19 Vaccine Survey and Card Upload) and if fully vaccinated either upload or submit a copy of their vaccinecard/record to Human Resources at humanresources@thiel.edu.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above policies, please contact Jennifer Clark at 724-589-2858.  If you have questions regarding on-site vaccine clinics or the safety of vaccines, please contact our Director of Health Services, Chris Cianci ’96, at 724-589-2356.

Annual all-campus retreat covers strategic plan and middle states update

• Fill out a survey regarding the all-campus retreat.

Student News

Faculty and staff can audition for Thiel Theatre fall production

Thiel Theatre will be holding auditions for this year’s fall production of Caryl Chruchill’s Love and Information. Auditions will be open to all Thiel students, faculty, and staff (with casting priority given to Thiel students). Auditions will be held from 7–9:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2 in the Robinson Theatre (subject to change per licensing agreement).

Callback auditions will be held 7–9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7  if necessary. No audition preparation necessary!

For more information, contact Director of Theatre JK Rogers, Ph.D.

Synopsis: “The play is a compilation of seven sections each with a number of ‘scenes’ that range from less than a minute in length to a few minutes long, with a ‘random’ selection of scenes (included at the end of the play) that are able to be incorporated anywhere within the play. There are over 100 characters within the play, however none are named, there are no set contexts, and there is no specification as to age, gender, race, etc.” Our production will focus on the idea of ‘connection:’ What happens when we connect, fail to connect, want to connect but can’t, connect when we don’t want to?

Thiel Theatre welcomes actors of all ages, abilities, sexual/gender orientation, race/ethnicity, physical or neuro-ability as part of our commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA).

Due to COVID-19, Thiel Players requests that all cast and crew members be vaccinated or submit to regular testing at least weekly with negative results unless age or prior medical condition currently prevents vaccination to keep everyone as safe as possible. The theatre will adhere to the most current CDC recommendations regarding masking and/or lockdown policies.