8-18-21: Campus Public Health Updates
Dear Students, Families and Colleagues,
I write today to share some updates on our COVID policies and plans. We are so looking forward to the arrival of students from 70 countries to our bustling campus, and are carefully following the evolving science to protect all members of our community during the COVID pandemic. The delta variant requires our very serious attention, and we will use all of the resources available to us—including highly effective vaccines, COVID testing, masking and other resources—to create a multi-layered strategy that helps us meet our dual goals of safety and a vibrant, in-person campus experience. We will follow expert public health guidance, including from the Wexner Medical Center of The Ohio State University, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College Health Association, the Ohio Department of Health, the National College Athletic Association and the Wayne County Health department, to make decisions to support our community.
My tremendous thanks go to the COVID Task Force and to staff and faculty across campus for their very hard work this summer to develop plans for the coming year. You can find FAQs and updates here. Here are a few highlights.
- Over 98% of our student body, and over 70% of our employees, are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (or will be as the semester starts). This high student vaccination rate is particularly important as our students live on campus in a congregate setting, sharing close living spaces with one another.
- Unvaccinated members of the campus community (students and employees) are required to test weekly for COVID.
- All students are testing for COVID either just before or just after arrival to start the semester.
- Masks are required in all indoor spaces on campus, with the exception of individual residence all rooms and private offices. Masks are not required outdoors.
Our Provost and Academic deans have developed some additional guidance for faculty that is specific to classrooms and research. They will share that later today.
We expect that we will adjust our approaches over time as the pandemic’s intensity varies and new science and tools become available, and we are prepared to do so, always keeping our mission and our campus’s health and well-being at the forefront.
Everyone on campus—students, staff, faculty and visitors—is required to follow the guidance directed by our COVID task force, in order to protect themselves and our community. Our community is one of mutual care and respect, and we fully expect everyone will be committed to upholding these approaches to safe operations. If you have a question about policy or process, please write to wooster-covid-19@wooster.edu. If you have a concern that someone is not upholding these policies, please contact Human Resources (for concerns about employees) at humanresources@wooster.edu or the Dean of Students’ office (for concerns about students, please use this form).
We will be in touch with you regularly to share campus status and any changes in policies. Until then, I wish you all a wonderful start to the semester.
Go Scots!
Sarah Bolton
Posted in Community Message on August 18, 2021.
