Embry-Riddle President Urges Everyone to Uphold Health Precautions – Both On and Off Campus

As Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University prepares to resume low-density, face-to-face instruction on June 30, University President P. Barry Butler called on everyone to uphold rigorous new health precautions at all times, whether they are on or off campus.

Face coverings, daily wellness checks and physical distancing are now mandatory at Embry-Riddle, Dr. Butler noted during a virtual town hall meeting that drew 800 participants this week. He emphasized that “this should not just be focused on students, but on all of us – including administrators, faculty and staff. Everybody’s in on this together.”

If anyone fails to follow the rules, he said, those who observe the problem should first offer a friendly reminder, then tell the person that they are in violation of employee policy and student conduct rules and subject to disciplinary action. Dr. Butler noted that he hopes others will remind him of the rules if he ever forgets them.

Embry-Riddle’s intense core safety culture has allowed the Daytona Beach Campus, for example, to complete more than 10,000 flight or simulator hours and 17,000 contact hours since May 2 without a single known case of Covid-19 transmission between individuals in that program, Dr. Butler noted. “That is not by accident,” he said, referencing the Flight Department’s rigorous new health protocols. “People have worked hard.”