Preparing for a safe and healthy fall
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,
As we prepare for the start of the Fall 2022 semester, The College of Wooster is monitoring and responding to COVID-19 with the health and safety of our students, employees, and guests as our highest priority.
Our plans for campus continue to be informed by expert guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, experts at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, and input from state health officials and the local Wayne County Public Health Department. As we have done since the start of the pandemic, we will continue to monitor overall rates of infection on campus, infection and hospitalization rates in Wayne County, the state, and nationally, and we will continue to update our COVID-19 dashboard beginning August 29, and adjust guidelines as needed on our 2022-2023 Campus Guide.
Vaccinations
Because Wooster is a fully residential campus, where all students live together in communal residence halls and houses, we require all students be vaccinated for COVID-19 or have an authorized medical exemption—just as we require vaccination against such illnesses and infections as tetanus, measles, mumps, and polio per our Student Health form. Students are asked to update their vaccination information through their Electronic Health Record at Longbrake Wellness Center.
Wooster employees also are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated and to receive booster immunizations according to CDC recommendations to help protect the campus against new variants of the coronavirus. Employees, please make sure to update your vaccination status under “Vaccination Information” in Scot Web. Currently, 93 percent of staff and faculty, and 99 percent of students are vaccinated.
Masking
Out of an abundance of caution, while we have an influx of people moving back to campus this fall, well-fitting, high quality, masks will be required in all public spaces by all students, employees, and guests from August 17 to August 30. During this period masks are not required when in your residence hall room or private office, outdoors, at practice, and when eating in the dining hall. Per the Community Care Agreement signed by all students before selecting a move-in time slot, if you are not masked during the mandatory masking period, you will be referred to our campus conduct process.
Following this period, face masks may be worn by anyone who wishes to wear a mask. We continue to recommend that unvaccinated persons wear masks while working in a communal setting or attending in-person meetings with others. Faculty members may require masks be worn in their individual classrooms and offices. Masks will continue to be required at the Longbrake Student Wellness Center. Staff may also request masks be worn in their individual offices. Masks and complimentary “masks required” door tags are widely available across campus, or you can reach out to wooster-covid-19@wooster.edu.
Testing
Wooster strongly encourages all students to submit negative COVID-19 test results within 24 hours of arriving on campus for the Fall 2022 semester via the Self-Report Form. If you test positive for COVID-19 please stay home and contact wooster-covid-19@wooster.edu to discuss your late arrival.
We are requiring that all students test upon arrival prior to entering student housing. All testing will occur in Longbrake Student Wellness Center, unless otherwise noted. Positive students will be subject to our isolation and quarantine protocols, which are up to date on the Campus Guide.
Athletes, RAs, and others who arrive to campus before the mask mandate goes into effect on August 17, will be required to test regularly. Coaches and staff leaders will be notified of that testing schedule and have the option of having groups test at Longbrake Wellness Center or be provided test kits and instructions in the coming days.
Students who are experiencing symptoms or would like to monitor their health will be able to pick up a self-administered rapid test at the following campus locations: Lowry Center Information Desk, Andrews Library Circulation Desk, Wellness Center Door A and Door D, and Ruth Williams Hall Storeroom. Employees can pick up tests with their designated department coordinator, by contacting wooster-covid-19@wooster.edu as well as in any of the aforementioned locations.
We look forward to a healthy, safe, and thriving fall semester. As we move into a new phase of COVID mitigation over the semester, it is our goal to establish guidelines of self-governance where we make decisions that are best for us individually and collectively as a community. We wish you all a great remainder of summer and are eager to see you on campus soon.
Regards,
Wayne Webster
Interim President
Posted in Community Message on August 2, 2022.
