COVID-19 hangs over campus return plans
Most schools setting vaccination mandates for students and staff
With college and university students arriving back on campus as early as this weekend, Connecticut schools are returning to pre-pandemic life, with classes mostly in person and residence halls at nearly full capacity.
But enforcing health policies among larger populations than last school year and keeping up with a “constantly evolving pandemic” pose new challenges, said Anthony Santella, University of New Haven COVID-19 coordinator and a professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy.
“We’re in this … gray zone where it actually is much more complicated to manage, because you have so many more people back on campus and doing the things they want to do,” he said.
University of Hartford students began moving in Thursday, while Trinity College students were scheduled to begin arriving on campus in Hartford on Sunday, but the school is delaying move-ins until Monday or Tuesday, due to reports of severe weather. Move-in for students who attend the state universities will begin Monday. Most freshmen at Uconn and Yale arrive on campus next weekend.
Most Connecticut schools are requiring students and staff to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while offering exemptions to those who do not want to do so for medical or nonmedical reasons.
However, as the spread of the delta variant and concerns about
breakthrough infections increase, colleges and universities in the state are planning to continue protective measures, such as indoor mask-wearing regardless of vaccination status, social distancing and gathering size limits. Depending on school policy, some forms of remote learning may also continue if students have to quarantine.
Students must show proof of vaccination, or file for an exemption:
Over the summer, public and private schools across the state announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates for both students and staff, with exemptions for medical and nonmedical reasons. Students who do not apply for an exemption and do not provide proof of vaccination will likely face disciplinary action.
At some schools, like Trinity College in Hartford, such students will not be allowed to live or study on campus. At Quinnipiac University in Hamden, they will be subject to fines over the course of the fall semester, totaling up to a maximum of $2,275. They will also lose access to campus Wi-fi and face an additional $100 weekly fine if they do not undergo weekly coronavirus testing.
“Our hope is we don’t have to assess these charges on anyone but rather the students provide their necessary documentation as required before the start of the semester,” Quinnipiac spokesperson John Morgan said, in an email.
The University of St. Joseph in West Hartford is encouraging all students to be vaccinated unless they are medically unable to do so. During the period when fully vaccinated people did not have to wear masks indoors, the school began giving students and staff who received the vaccine bracelets reading: “I am COVID Vaxxed at USJ,” in an effort to reassure those who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons of others’ status, said university President Rhona Free.
“Right now we all have to wear masks, but hopefully, pretty soon we can lift that for people who are vaccinated,” she added.
Frequent symptom checks and COVID-19 testing will continue:
Given the highly contagious nature of the delta variant, some schools, including the University of New Haven, will require all students and staff to continue daily symptom checks on phone apps.
“Eventually, we probably will see some cases of people who are fully vaccinated who are symptomatic,” said Santella, the school’s COVID-19 coordinator. He explained that the apps notify school health services to follow up if a user is experiencing coronavirus symptoms. Over time, the software could also provide data about the potential for breakthrough cases among fully vaccinated students and staff, he said.
In Fairfield, all Sacred Heart University students — vaccinated or not — must provide a negative COVID-19 test three to five days before arriving on campus, as they did last year, said Gary Macnamara, the school’s executive director of public safety and government affairs and co-chair of the university’s coronavirus task force. Students who test positive must isolate at home until it’s safe for them to be around others.
“We had all hoped that the vaccination in and of itself would be a major equalizer, and while we still believe that it is, it is not allowing the planning to go how we thought,” he said. “We now realize there is more of a potential for spread among vaccinated individuals, so we have to modify.”
Nearby, Fairfield University will also require all students to be tested upon returning to campus, regardless of vaccination status. Unlike last year, the school will not provide isolation or quarantine housing during the semester, so students are asked to come up with backup plans before coming to campus.
Like Fairfield, many Connecticut colleges and universities — such as Trinity College and the University of Hartford — are requiring unvaccinated students to participate in weekly COVID-19 testing throughout the school year. Central Connecticut State University in New Britain said in its reopening “blueprint” that a percentage of vaccinated commuter and residential students will also be tested during the semester.
Remote learning may remain an option for some classes, or students in quarantine:
While the majority of Connecticut undergrads are expected to return to full in-person education, some schools plan to continue keeping a small number of classes in a hybrid or remote model. Uconn and Central Connecticut State University have both said they expect to hold about 90% of classes in person. Online only learning tools may also continue to be used by students who are in quarantine or isolation.
Macnamara, Sacred Heart’s coronavirus task force co-chair, said the school is discontinuing its “SHU-FLEX” model, meaning students will not be Zooming into classes this fall. However, professors will work with students who may be out due to COVID-19 in the same way they would in previous years for students who were sick, he said. This may involve recorded lectures, virtual office hours, or supplemental instruction materials.
Santella, the University of New Haven COVID19 coordinator, said the school has kept a “small number” of hybrid or completely online courses for undergrads, “as we think about this semester being really a transition from last year.”
But in case campuses need to shut down again, Santella said he’s asking his fellow professors to “have your plan B and plan C set,” and remain flexible.
“We may need to all move virtually again. We may need to study-inplace, where residential students are restricted to their dorms,” he said. “This is the time, August, to think about what you may need to do if we have to pivot with a day’s notice, a week’s notice. You don’t get the luxury of weeks’ notice.”