Dear 61传媒 Community Members,
61传媒 continues to monitor the impact and progression of the pandemic with the goal of providing a safe campus environment for our community. Based on recent advice from our medical advisors and in anticipation of the CDC changing its definition of fully vaccinated to include a booster, the College will require all employees and students to receive a booster shot by January 31, 2022.
Consistent with the College鈥檚 existing vaccination policy for students and employees, no further action is required for individuals who previously received an exemption for medical reasons or a sincerely held religious belief. Upon return to campus, unvaccinated individuals must continue required twice-per-week testing and vaccinated individuals must continue required weekly testing.
Please monitor your email for additional updates and refer to the regularly, as we continue to update the site as new information becomes available. 61传媒employees may upload their vaccination booster information to the College . Students may upload their vaccination booster information through the .
The CDC continues to stress that vaccines, including boosters, reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalizations, and death against COVID-19. Furthermore, the CDC urges that individuals take measures to reduce the spread of infection, including getting the COVID-19 vaccine and booster, as the best way to slow the spread of the virus. I encourage you to exercise all possible precautions to protect your health and wellbeing during this critical period.
Los Angeles County is currently reporting over 20,000 new coronavirus cases per day, and the rampant surge of the Omicron variant is requiring us to rethink how we approach the new year and beginning of the spring semester.聽61传媒is taking action to minimize an outbreak on campus prior to our students鈥� arrival by de-densifying the campus. The vice presidents are working with their divisions to limit work on campus to essential work only from January 4-14. Those employees who are able to do so will work remotely.
In addition, out of an abundance of caution, the College will implement a revised COVID-19 employee screening testing protocol by prioritizing scheduling for essential on-campus workers.聽Essential on-campus workers will test as early in the week as possible (Tuesday or Wednesday). Employees will NOT be able to work on campus until they receive their negative test results.聽Employees will come to campus and test and return home after testing to work remotely until they receive their negative test results.聽Employees will be paid for their remote work until they are cleared to work on campus.聽Employees who can perform their work only on campus will be paid their regularly scheduled hours for the days they are waiting for their test results.聽Again, the 240 testing center will prioritize COVID-19 PCR tests on Tuesday, January 4th for our most essential on campus workers who must work in person. As a reminder, do not come to campus if you are ill or experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.
With the return of our students to campus for the spring semester beginning on January 18, the presidents of The Claremont Colleges will be meeting this week to discuss the possibility of beginning the semester with courses being taught remotely to best protect the health and safety of our community. This will also address the need for flexibility of our students returning to campus who are navigating airline cancelations and coronavirus infections and/or exposure. We will provide an update as soon as possible.
I hope that you all had a restful, rejuvenating, and healthy winter break.
Sincerely,
Amy Marcus-Newhall
Interim President