With mask and vaccine requirements, local colleges gear up for fall semester
Aug. 21—Local colleges and universities are gearing up to welcome students back for the fall semester, continuing masking and testing while putting new policies in place for coronavirus vaccinations, with some differences among institutions.
The University of Connecticut, Three Rivers Community College, Connecticut College and Mitchell College are requiring students and staff to wear masks inside, regardless of vaccination status. They're also requiring students to be vaccinated, unless they have been granted a medical or religious exemption.
UConn and Conn College are requiring employees to be vaccinated, while Mitchell and Three Rivers aren't — or at least not yet.
UConn interim President Andrew Agwunobi announced Tuesday that employees at the Storrs campus, UConn Health in Farmington and regional campuses — which includes Avery Point in Groton — must be fully vaccinated. UConn said it decided on the policy in collaboration with its unions.
Agwunobi wrote that keeping everyone safe "is particularly important given the rise of the Delta variant and the upcoming start of in-person classes."
Employees must show evidence of vaccination by Oct. 15, and those who are granted an exemption or deferral must be tested weekly.
According to UConn's COVID-19 dashboard, as of Wednesday, 96% of residential students at Storrs and 86% of students at Avery Point are fully or partially vaccinated.
Connecticut College
On its Path Forward webpage about health and safety protocols, Connecticut College is on green alert, meaning the school "is fully populated with students, faculty and staff and operating with some protocols in place that address the existence of COVID-19."
For testing, the school had planned on requiring students who aren't fully vaccinated to be tested regularly, while vaccinated students could get tested in Student Health Services if they're symptomatic and could get up to three "peace of mind" tests per semester at the testing center if they're not.
But Dean of Students Victor Arcelus said Thursday that because of the delta variant of the coronavirus spreading and rising COVID-19 levels in Connecticut, the school will instead test students twice a week regardless of vaccination status, like it did last year. He said less than 1% of the student body has vaccine exemptions.
He said the COVID-19 case dashboard isn't up at the moment but the school "will be putting it back up, particularly now that we're going to be testing everybody."
Compared to last year, he said Connecticut College has less isolation housing but has agreements with hotels in the area, should more be necessary.
All classes will be in-person, and Arcelus said there will be more students on campus than usual because many students aren't able to study abroad.
Students who are fully vaccinated may travel freely beyond New London County, while those who aren't must request permission from their class dean to travel beyond the county overnight, and must quarantine upon their return until getting a negative test. Students aren't allowed to host overnight guests.
First-year and transfer students arrive Thursday, while upperclassmen arrive the following Sunday and Monday.
Mitchell College
Connecticut College and Mitchell College are both requiring students, faculty and staff to monitor symptoms and report their health status daily through the CoVerified app.
Conn College noted that students who arrive without a vaccination record, haven't arranged for an exemption and haven't communicated the need to be vaccinated on campus won't receive their room key and won't be enrolled for the semester.
Erik Costa, director of campus safety and COVID-19 coordinator at Mitchell College, similarly wrote in an Aug. 13 email to the school community that students who haven't uploaded their vaccination card or been granted an exemption won't be allowed on campus.
Resident assistants and student athletes are back on campus, while new students arrive Wednesday and returning students the following Sunday.
"We anticipate a return to campus life that more closely resembles the Mitchell College experience we have all come to appreciate," Costa wrote. "While we continue to be encouraged by the rate of COVID-19 vaccination in the state and among members of the Mitchell College community, we must remain vigilant as variants in the virus pose new questions for us to consider and respond to."
President Tracy Espy said Mitchell will be doing weekly testing on unvaccinated people, regardless of the reason they're unvaccinated. She said just about all classes are in person.
According to Mitchell's website, classrooms and residence halls will return to full occupancy, and gatherings — including athletic events — will return to normal capacity. Visitors are welcome on campus but must wear face coverings indoors and outdoors at events and gatherings.
Three Rivers Community College
Three Rivers Community College, where classes start Thursday, is implementing weekly testing on campus for employees and students who are unvaccinated or who haven't indicated their vaccine status, said Stephen Goetchius, dean of administration. Three Rivers didn't do testing this past year.
Students must report their vaccine status, and Goetchius said the school is still working on employee reporting, as the rate hasn't been that high. He said Connecticut State Colleges and Universities is negotiating with the unions to make vaccination mandatory for employees.
CSCU spokesperson Leigh Appleby tweeted Wednesday that CSCU is hopeful that bargaining units "will follow the lead of their UConn counterparts and recognize that a vaccine requirement for all is beneficial to the employees they represent."
CSCU President Terrence Cheng wrote in a memo Thursday, "It remains our hope that, with increasing rates of vaccination and a decreasing caseload, we will be able to relax or eliminate some restrictions for vaccinated individuals during the semester. In addition, institutions may need to adjust practices to address local conditions during the semester working closely with system office."
Goetchius said Three Rivers is offering a combination of in-person and online courses.
