Campus Health Guidelines
To protect the health of the WTS community, the following guidelines will apply to all students, employees, and campus guests.
IF YOU ARE SICK: STAY HOME
You are expected to stay home if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or any illness.
STUDENTS: Notify your professor of your absence.
EMPLOYEES: Follow your manager’s preferences for notification of your absence.
RAPID TESTS AVAILABLE
If you are a student and have COVID-19 symptoms or are concerned about COVID-19 exposure, you (or a healthy family member or friend) may pick up a free rapid test at the WTS reception desk. Employees, please access local resources to purchase a test or pick up a free test.
IF YOU TEST POSITIVE: ISOLATE
If you test positive for COVID-19, please follow these instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
IF YOU HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO COVID-19: TAKE PRECAUTIONS
If you have been exposed to COVID-19, please follow these instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Masks and hand sanitizer are available at the reception desk.
COVID-19 Workplace Coordinator
Rayetta Perez
Director of Administration and Human Resources
616 392.8555 x103
COVID-19 Safety Coordinator
David Becker
Superintendent of Buildings & Grounds
616 392.8555 x138
The CARES Act for Students and HEERF ACT
THE CORONAVIRUS AID, RELIEF AND ECONOMIC SECURITY (CARES) ACT
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress and signed into law to provide economic relief from COVID-19. One section of the CARES Act established the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which provided colleges and universities funds for student emergency grants.
The Seminary received $36,595 in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds in three distributions of which $24,397 went directly to students in the form of financial grants for expenses students incurred related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. Expenses include things like technology, health care, course materials, rent, food, child care, or moving fees.
ALLOCATING FUNDS
How is Western Theological Seminary allocating the CARES Act funds?
The Department of Education encouraged institutions to distribute the CARES Act funds as widely as possible while prioritizing students with the greatest need. WTS allocated $12,198 and an additional $12,199 as standard relief grants to all residential students who qualified for Federal financial aid as verified by the ISIR report which was generated by the successful completion of a FAFSA application. As residential students face the greatest disruption of their educational pursuits because of COVID, they were the only WTS students eligible for these funds.
GRANT ELIGIBILITY
Who is eligible for the WTS CARES Grant?
The U.S. Department of Education determined that only students who met basic federal student aid eligibility criteria could be considered for CARES Act funds. To ensure this, only students who filed a 2020-2021 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and maintained a half time status for the fall 2020 semester were eligible. We estimate that approximately 30 WTS students were eligible to receive CARES Act funds.
DISTRIBUTING FUNDS
When and how will I receive the WTS CARES Grant?
If WTS had your 2020-2021 ISIR report on file and you were enrolled for 6 or more credit hours for the fall 2020 semester, you automatically received a grant in the month of December 2020 in the amount of $400 and an additional grant of $450 in February.
