Summer Culture of Care Health and Safety Guidelines In Effect June 1, 2021

Dear students, staff and faculty:

This summer, Smith College will run limited operations to support in-person student internships and work, faculty research and pre-college programming. All other activities will remain in remote mode, working within updated summer pandemic protocols (see below).

We write today to share what will change on June 1, 2021, in terms of our Culture of Care health and safety guidelines.

What coronavirus health and safety protocols will be in place for summer?

Significant changes to our health and safety guidelines as of June 1, 2021, include: new outdoor masking guidelines, asymptomatic testing frequency, and more. Please see updated summer guidelines here. Importantly, masks will only be required outdoors when individuals cannot reliably maintain six feet of physical distancing.The college will continue to review COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will update them based on federal guidelines and state regulations.

Learning on Campus

Many graduate and undergraduate student programs, internships and work experiences will take place on campus in person (e.g. SURF, Botanic Garden internships); some will continue to be remote. If you have questions about a specific program, please reach out to that department or covid19info@smith.edu. Depending on pandemic conditions during the summer, it is possible that activities will revert temporarily to remote operation.

Living on Campus

The Culture of Care under which we have operated for more than a year has served us well; we will continue some level of pandemic operations (e.g., physical distancing, mask wearing) through the summer. Detailed information about health and safety protocols can be found here. Summer housing and meal information is available on the Summer Housing page.

Working on Campus

This summer, faculty and staff who are currently in the testing program and approved for on-campus work may continue to work on campus (and will be expected to continue to participate in asymptomatic testing). Any faculty and staff currently working on campus who will not be on campus can exit the asymptomatic testing program by emailing testingandtracing@smith.edu. Any staff who are not currently working on campus and need to return to campus this summer must fill out the Return to Work form.

Staff and faculty with disabilities including those experiencing significant health or mental health challenges may request job related accommodations necessary for returning to work by reaching out to their supervisor and/or Human Resources.

We look forward to a return to in-person work for the balance of staff and faculty in August; it is likely that some health and safety guidelines will remain in place at that time. We will provide more information about the return to campus process in mid-June.

Vaccination

We strongly urge all members of our community to get vaccinated as soon possible. We will require the vaccine for students this fall, subject to medical and religious exemptions.

Will COVID-19 vaccines be required in the summer for students or employees?

We strongly urge all members of our community to get vaccinated as soon as possible. We are not requiring the vaccine for summer.

Who should employees contact if they have questions or concerns regarding working on campus this summer?

As always, employees should work with their supervisors and the Office of Human Resources to discuss workplace concerns. Faculty should contact the Provost with any questions.

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