Daily Digest

August 23, 2020

The University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Police Department are offering some clarity as to their plans to manage off-campus student behavior this fall.

Four canvassing teams of two to three people â made up of students, staff, faculty, volunteers and community engagement officers from the Division of Public Safety and Security and AAPD â will walk across campus and near-campus neighborhoods seven days a week from noon to midnight. They will rove daily from Aug. 20 to Aug. 30, according to an AAPD release.

Dear subscribers,

Good evening,

Welcome to the August 23 edition of the Daily Digest. With classes roughly a week away, now is more important than ever to stay up to date on campus news relating to COVID-19 and more. That's why weâre here bringing you this weekâs top stories straight to your inbox.

This week, the University of Michigan announced the U-M ambassador program to monitor off-campus behavior, Schlissel remains optimistic about an on-campus semester and the University will no longer ask about misdemeanors on applications.

As other universities reverse course on in-person classes, Schlissel remains optimistic

As other schools across the country pivot to an online class format, University President Mark Schlissel remains optimistic about a successful hybrid semester with students on campus.

In an email to University faculty and staff on Tuesday afternoon, Schlissel and University Provost Susan Collins said the University is planning to âramp up to welcome a reduced number of students, faculty and staff back to campus.â The message came after some staff staged a protest in front of the Fleming Administration Building and Schlisselâs home earlier in the day.

'U' to no longer ask about misdemeanor charges on applications

The University will no longer require applicants to mark a box asking whether they have a misdemeanor charge filed against them, according to University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald.

According to Fitzgerald, the University began asking applicants about âcriminal or conduct issuesâ in 1999. He said while criminal background is one factor in a studentâs application, the holistic application process makes it so that a student is not immediately disqualified from admission if they check the box saying they have a criminal history.

Michigan represented at first-ever remote Democratic National Convention

A week after former Vice President Joe Biden announced Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as his pick for the Democratic vice presidential nomination, the first ever virtual Democratic National Convention occurred this week. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who spoke at the convention on Monday night, was also rumored to be a possible choice. Following the announcement last Tuesday, Whitmer voiced her support of Harris.

The Daily talked with Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, about the new convention format, Michigan involvement in the DNC and more.

U-M COVID-19 dashboard shows 13 positive cases in two weeks, quarantine housing already in use

The University of Michigan launched its COVID-19 dashboard Thursday to track the number of tests and positive cases reported to University Health Service and Occupational Health Services. Data from Wednesday shows there have been 13 positive cases â four students and nine non-students â reported over the past 14 days out of 695 tests for students and 611 for faculty during that time period.

One person is currently in isolation and another four are quarantining due to possible exposure or while awaiting test results, according to data on the dashboard from Tuesday. As of then, occupancy of the Universityâs quarantine and isolation housing was at 0.8 percent.