Aug. 31, 2021
Welcome back! We are so looking forward to greeting you all on campus in the coming days. We can sense the enthusiasm of returning to campus to resume teaching and learning in the classroom. Nothing compares to the excitement that a fall return brings to our beautiful campus. Naismith Green is looking green again, and the lake is looking, well, it will be filling back up next year.
As enthusiastic as we are for the start of the year, we are still managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The rise of the Delta variant presents a new set of challenges for us. Precautions are in place based on the best information available now.
Dashboard
The COVID-19 Dashboard updates continue on the College’s main COVID page and will be provided twice per week during the fall 2021. Our community’s vaccination rate will soon be added to the dashboard. The information posted is the best available information Springfield College has at the time. The vast majority of test results are received within 24-48 business hours of the samples reaching the lab.
Testing
As a reminder, all students arriving from abroad and students who are not fully vaccinated (two weeks after their final dose) must arrive with a negative COVID test (PCR, not antigen). Students arriving from abroad who do not have access to the COVID-19 vaccine and/or a PCR test will work directly with the International Center. All students who are not fully vaccinated (two weeks after their final shot) are considered unvaccinated and must follow the guidelines for unvaccinated students.
All residential students will be required to undergo a COVID-19 test upon move-in. All non-residential (commuter) students will be required to have a COVID-19 test on either Tuesday September 7th or Wednesday September 8th. However, commuter students participating in New Student Orientation will be required to have a COVID-19 test on Friday, September 3rd from 8am - noon. Those commuter students intending to participate in the Club Fair and other on-campus Welcome Week activities should be tested the morning of September 7th.
Testing will take place at the PE Annex (239 Wilbraham Avenue). Students will be required to wear their mask until their arrival test confirms a negative status. Unvaccinated students will continue to wear their masks at all times, both indoors and outdoors.
Masks on Campus
As a reminder, Springfield College requires all faculty, staff, students, and visitors to wear masks when inside campus buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Currently, vaccinated individuals may choose not to wear masks outdoors, alone in a private office, when students are in their living space (i.e. individual room and/or apartment), and may remove masks during the consumption of food or drinks in dining areas. Like all issues surrounding COVID, this policy will be reviewed on an on-going basis and changed as necessary.
Members of the Springfield College community who were granted a medical or religious exemption from vaccinations, or who have not fully completed their course of vaccination (two weeks post s final inoculation) must wear their masks at all times while on campus – both indoors and outdoors, and are required to have a COVID test each week. Testing will be done at the testing center adjacent to the Health Center on Mondays (10:00am - 5:30pm) and Thursdays (8:30am - 3:30pm) only; no appointment is needed.
Email will continue to be our primary communication method, so please check your account regularly. We look forward to working together to ensure that everyone enjoys a great year of academic discovery, events, and activities, while staying healthy and safe.
Sincerely,
Slandie Dieujuste, PhD
Vice President for Student Affairs
Patrick Love, PhD
Associate Vice President for Administration
