Yellow Mode To Begin Monday, February 7

Dear students, staff and faculty:

On Monday, February 7, the college will enter yellow mode for its COVID operations.

Notably, yellow mode guidelines include the following:

• Student dining rooms reopen.
• Gatherings of members of the Smith community (and Five College students) are allowed.
• Students and employees must test twice weekly.
• External presenters, trainers or lecturers are allowed on campus but must follow visitor guidelines, which include attestation of boosted vaccinations for certain visitors on campus for long periods or with higher contact (e.g., providing services in a crowded space or large event).
• Orange-mode travel restrictions are lifted.
• Employees who have been working remotely can return to in-person work under the guidance of their managers. All employees must receive a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to their return to campus.
• Olin Fitness Center reopens to all students and employees in the campus testing program.

Beyond yellow mode

Over the past several weeks, we have seen multiple developments that give us hope and reason to believe that the college can, if current trends continue, move to green mode in the coming weeks.

Among these developments:

• On-campus, local and regional caseloads continue to decline.
• We have not identified any significant on-campus spread of COVID-19, which shows that our masking guidelines and testing program continue to be effective management measures.
• Data continues to show the low risk of serious health impacts of COVID-19 to fully vaccinated individuals. As a reminder, more than 99% of our community has been fully vaccinated.

State agencies support our thinking on a near-term move to green mode. Last week, the Secretaries of Education and Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts asked college and university presidents across the state to lead a transition from “pandemic” to “endemic” mode. They support moving higher ed institutions towards a “near normal” that recognizes that, while this coronavirus remains highly contagious, we can effectively manage it through the robust programs and policies we pioneered during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Importantly, our commonwealth’s public health leaders join us in a concern about, in their words, the “twindemic” of COVID-19 and the social isolation it has imposed on our communities.

Putting the health and safety of our community at the front of our decision takes into account the mental health and wellbeing of students, staff and faculty. Moving to yellow mode brings back many of the community structures we’ve missed, like in-person dining, gatherings and work. As we look to our new near-normal, we encourage each of you to practice self-care, compassion and patience for your friends and colleagues as we each adjust in our own ways. Support is available 24-hours a day for students and employees.

Any mode changes beyond today—including a potential move to green mode—will continue to be driven fully by our need to protect the wellbeing of our community as supported by public health data and guidance from medical experts.

As always, we thank you for all of the work you’ve done to keep the Smith community safe and encourage you to reach out to us with any questions.

CIRT

The COVID-19 Incident Response Team

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