WestConn hopes for ‘normal’ fall
Officials consider vaccine requirement
DANBURY— With plans to begin vaccinating students as soon as next week, Western Connecticut State University aims to reopen fully in the fall.
“We are hoping that we can be as ‘normal’ as possible,” spokesman Paul Steinmetz said.
That’s true for all institutions in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, which plan to open in the fall with “full on-ground operations,” spokesman Leigh Appleby said.
But the system has not decided whether students, staff and faculty will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“CSCU is in the process of reviewing the possibility of a vaccine requirement in conjunction with state officials and colleagues in higher education in Connecticut,” Appleby said in a statement. “In the meantime, we are working with our state partners to make vaccines available before end of semester and finding ways to incentivize people to get vaccinated, even if it does not become a requirement.”
Private colleges in the state have not said whether vaccines will be required, although Wesleyan University’s president said that school will be “ensuring” all students are vaccinated before the fall semester.
The state colleges and universities are setting up on-campus vaccine clinics so that students can get at least one dose before returning home at the end of the semester, Appleby said.
At WestConn, those clinics will begin next Tuesday for all students, including those who live outside of Connecticut. Students will receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine
The Community Health Center has made 2,500 doses available for students at the five clinics in the Bill Williams Gym in Berkshire Hall on the Midtown campus. Students may register online.
“My sense is just from talking to a handful of students is that the attitude among students is that they want to get it and that will make life much easier for them,” Steinmetz said.
Campus COVID restrictions are expected to stay the same throughout this the semester, with classes ending on May 7, followed by a week of finals.
Three commencement ceremonies will be held outdoors and in-person on May 15 and 16, with students allowed to bring two guests. The Class of 2020 has been invited to walk across the stage, too, with so far 80 to 100 graduates from last year planning to attend, Steinmetz said.
WestConn has seen 75 COVID cases among residential students this semester, more than triple the 22 cases from the fall semester. Part of the increase was due to a February outbreak at one residence hall. The positivity rate is 1.3 percent, which is below the state’s.
Cases increased the week of March 29 when 11 positive tests were reported, compared to three the previous week., according to the university’s dashboard. The spike was not attributed to any particular sources or residence halls, Steinmetz said.
“It went up a little bit and we're keeping an eye on,” he said. “Any time it goes up we’re concerned, but we’re not alarmed at this point.”
Cases fell to four reported the week of April 5, according to the university’s dashboard.
Life next semester
Students should anticipate a largely pre-COVID college experience in the fall, Steinmetz said.
Three-foot separation will be required in classrooms, per the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Classes will largely be held in-person, he said.
Steinmetz expects masks to still be required in public places, although rules are still being worked out.
“It depends on whether an individual has been vaccinated or not,” he said. “If they are not vaccinated they’ll have to protect themselves the way we have up until now.”
WestConn officials have discussed whether students should have to present a vaccination card, similar to the card students who have COVID in the past three months show, Steinmetz said. These students are exempt from the required weekly COVID testing and show their card to do certain activities, such as go to the gym, he said.
But the university plans to follow the state health department and CSCU Board of Regents’ lead, he said.
The universities and community colleges plan to expand oncampus services this summer to gear up for the fall. Beginning June 1, offices will be at 50 percent capacity, with plans to bring offices to 100 percent capacity by the fall.
“By increasing the staffing of departments and offices by early summer, we can begin to provide more on-ground services and classes to better serve our students while ensuring our staff and faculty have a smooth transition back to in-person work,” Jane Gates, interim president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, said in a letter to the community college employees.