Jan. 7: COVID Updates for Spring 2022 | Springfield College

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

As we prepare for the beginning of a new semester, we will continue to remain vigilant with our COVID-19 protocols to ensure the health and safety of all community members. We expect to begin the spring 2022 semester fully in person as planned. In fact, we have already welcomed back a number of students and employees to campus and look forward to welcoming the rest back on January 17th and 18th. 

We continue to learn how to live with the realities of COVID-19 and our strict adherence to established protocols have helped us to safely do so. As we have done since the beginning of the pandemic, we will follow the CDC and local health guidelines, taking into account that as a highly-engaged residential campus, our conservative and cautious approach has served us well. The updates listed below will allow us to continue to protect the health and safety of our community.

COVID Booster
The College has adopted the CDC definition of fully vaccinated, which now includes a booster two months following the J&J vaccine, five months from a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. As such, all students and employees who study or work on our main campus in Springfield, MA are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by March 1, 2022 or within 14 days of their eligibility for a booster. Any individual who has not received a booster past this date will be considered not fully vaccinated. Those with existing exemptions will maintain their exempt status, and must continue to adhere to the masking and testing requirements associated with that status. New exemption requests will also be reviewed as needed.

While we are experiencing a national COVID-19 infection surge, the data continues to show that those who have received the booster tend to experience milder symptoms than those who have not. Thus, to facilitate everyone getting a booster, we will hold a booster clinic on Monday, January 24th. Stay tuned for more information.

Employees and students may send a scan or picture of their booster vaccination card to healthcenter@springfield.edu. In addition, employees may personally attest to their status via the PrideNET attestation form. Vaccination records will not be maintained as part of an employee’s HR personnel file. 

COVID Isolation/Quarantine
Out of an abundance of caution, we will continue to maintain the 10-day COVID-19 isolation timeframe for those infected with the virus. We will monitor and follow CDC guidelines as they are updated, giving strong consideration to the fact that as a residential campus our close living quarters and communal eating may require additional precautions.

We will also continue with the 10-day required quarantine for unvaccinated individuals who are identified as a close contact. Please visit the Testing and Contact Tracing page for more information.

Testing

Students with COVID symptoms (such as fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, or nasal congestion) should stay home and get tested via a PCR test (not antigen) prior to returning to campus. They should notify their faculty of their absence.

All residential students are required to undergo a COVID-19 test upon move-in. Students will be required to wear their mask indoors and outdoors and may not attend classes until their on-campus arrival test confirms a negative status. It is the responsibility of students to notify their faculty of their absence. Unvaccinated individuals will wear their masks at all times. Unvaccinated individuals are still required to undergo weekly on-campus testing.

All students arriving from outside of the United States (vaccinated and unvaccinated) and all unvaccinated individuals are required to have a negative COVID-19 PCR test (not antigen) taken within one week (preferably 72 hours) of arriving on campus. Students who do not comply will need to make arrangements to stay off campus or quarantine until they receive a negative result from their arrival test.

Optional testing is available once a week to all students and employees during designated testing time. No appointment is needed. The Testing Center is located at the PE Annex (239 Wilbraham Avenue) next to Towne Health Center.

Employees testing at the College who receive positive results will be included in the College's contact tracing protocol. Guidance for returning to work also will be provided. Employees who are diagnosed elsewhere will be contacted by their local department of health and should seek medical advice from their healthcare provider. Please note that Springfield College continues to require a 10 day isolation period from the onset of symptoms. Questions regarding remote work should be directed to the employee’s immediate supervisor. Please refer to the Telecommuting and Flexible Work Schedule Policy on PrideNet for additional information.

Masking
Consistent with the requirements of the City of Springfield, masks will continue to be required when inside all campus buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Currently, fully vaccinated individuals may choose not to wear masks outdoors when proper social distancing is possible, when alone in a private office, and when students are in their living spaces. Students may remove masks during the consumption of food or drinks in dining areas. 

Unvaccinated individuals must continue to wear a mask both indoors and outdoors at all times. 

The CDC now discourages the use of cloth masks. Updated recommendations are to wear masks with at least two layers of fabric that are closely fitted to cover the nose and mouth. Double masking with a surgical mask and cloth mask is preferable to a cloth mask alone. When available, N95 and KN95 masks are deemed more effective than other types of masks. 

Residence Halls Guest Policy
Effective January 12th, only Springfield College students (residential and commuter) are permitted in the residence halls. Allowance will be made during move-in where two guests may assist a student moving into the residence halls during the student’s assigned move-in block. Per policy, guests should be vaccinated and follow the mask mandate. 

While guests are not permitted in the residence halls, they are welcome on campus, provided they follow our established face covering policy and are fully vaccinated if eligible.

Virtual Open Forum
A virtual open forum will be held on Thursday, January 13th from 7 - 8 pm to provide opportunities for questions. The Zoom link is  https://springfield.zoom.us/j/88505133976.

We are excited to welcome everyone to a new year. We sincerely wish we were not beginning the semester with the uncertainties created by COVID-19. We acknowledge that students, their families, and our employees are fatigued by the constant vigilance that this pandemic requires. We also recognize that our strict adherence to established protocols will help keep our community and families safe; something we know is important to everyone. We thank you for doing your part for the health of our community.

We will continue to monitor guidance from the CDC and MA Department of Public Health as we prepare for the new academic semester. Additional information about our COVID-19 mitigation strategies can be found on our COVID information webpages. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Here’s to better days ahead.


Sincerely,

Slandie Dieujuste, PhD
Vice President for Student Affairs

Elizabeth Morgan, PhD
Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Mary Ann Coughlin, DPE
Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Eileen Cyr, EdD
Professor and President of Faculty Senate