May 17 Weekly CIRT Campus Update

Dear students, staff and faculty:

Below, please find important campus, regional and national updates from the COVID-19 Incident Response Team (CIRT).

Campus Status

The campus is currently operating in GREEN mode. For an explanation of the college’s color-coded operating modes, please visit Status & Operating Modes.

Over the past seven days, there have been zero positive cases of COVID-19 reported through the on-campus campus screening program. For more data on the screening program, please visit Coronavirus Screening.

Employee Vaccination Survey

All employees are required to fill out a confidential vaccination survey. As a reminder, responses will be confidential and will never be reported in conjunction with employees’ names.

Return to work timeline

In partnership with the Office of the Provost and the Office of Human Resources, CIRT and the COVID-19 Coordination Group are preparing a draft plan for the return-to-campus process for college employees in August. We expect to have a draft by May 26 and a near-final plan by June 15. This plan will contain guidance on:

• The process and timetable for return to in-person work
• Remote work policy and approval process
• COVID-19 health and safety protocols
• Employee travel guideline
• Any updates on vaccine policies for employees

Student and Employee Vaccines

All Massachusetts residents age 16 and up are eligible for vaccination. We urge everyone who is able to be vaccinated as soon as they are able. Vaccination appointments are now easy to find; many locations are allowing walk-in appointments. 

As a reminder, Smith College will require all undergraduate and graduate students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to returning to campus for the fall 2021 semester. Students should verify that they are fully vaccinated prior to their fall 2021 arrival by uploading vaccine records to the Schacht Center’s confidential patient portal. Instructions can be found on the center’s website. As with other required vaccinations, requests for medical or religious exemptions will be reviewed and accommodated on a case-by-case basis. The college will help international students or others who cannot get a US-approved full vaccination prior to arrival navigate the process to meet this requirement. We will have additional details about the overall return to campus process, including the vaccination requirement, by mid-June.

State and Federal Guidance Changes

While the CDC and Commonwealth have released updated guidance that relaxes some health and safety guidelines, it is important to note that Smith College is not changing any of its guidelines before June 1. The following restrictions remain in place to protect the health and safety of our students, staff and faculty:

• Vaccination status does not change any of the Culture of Care guidelines for individuals or groups (including masking, testing, etc.)
• Social event restrictions and gathering size restrictions remain unchanged.

Please send any questions to covid19info@smith.edu.

COVID-19 Incident Response Team (CIRT)
covid19info@smith.edu

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