December 17, 2021 – Spring 2022 COVID-19 Logistics

Dear Whitman community,

As the fall semester comes to an end, we hope your winter break will be restful — and healthy! Even while away from campus we strongly encourage you to keep following all the best practices to reduce your risk of getting COVID-19. We also want to make sure that you are aware of all the logistics of our new booster requirement, return-to-campus testing and our general campus COVID-19 protocols as we prepare for the spring semester.

COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Requirement: Due January 15, 2022

As an update to the Whitman College COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, every eligible member of the Whitman community is required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine booster or have an approved exemption by January 15, 2022 in order to maintain their campus access.

If you are already eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine booster (at least six months after your second dose of Pfizer, Moderna or another two-dose vaccine or two months after your first dose of Johnson & Johnson), you must receive the booster by January 15, 2022. Fill out the COVID-19 Vaccination Booster - Completed form after you have received the booster.
If you are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine booster (it has been less than six months since your second dose of Pfizer, Moderna or another two-dose vaccine or less than two months since your first dose of Johnson & Johnson), you must fill out the COVID-19 Vaccination Booster - Pending form by January 15, 2022, providing the date that you become eligible and attesting that you will receive the booster within one month of that date in order to maintain your campus access.
If you already have a medical or religious exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, you do not need to do anything. You will be granted a corresponding exemption to the booster requirement.
If you wish to apply for an exemption due to the booster’s emergency use authorization (EUA) status, you should submit a letter to the COVID-19 Vaccination Exemption form stating that you intend to wait to receive the booster until any one of the booster vaccines has received regular use authorization from the FDA. Anyone granted this exemption will be required to receive a booster dose within one month of when the EUA has been lifted for any of the available COVID-19 vaccines.

Anyone who does not complete the appropriate step to document their booster status by January 15 will have their campus access suspended. Employees who do not complete this step by January 15 will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence.

Required Return-to-Campus COVID-19 Testing: Begins January 13

All Whitman faculty, staff, students, volunteers and retirees with campus access must be tested as part of our return-to-campus baseline testing process. Each person must take two COVID-19 tests at least five days but not more than ten days apart, and testing will be done by saliva sample collection. The first round of testing will take place at Cordiner Hall from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following dates and does not require an appointment:

Thursday, January 13
Friday, January 14
Monday, January 17
Tuesday, January 18
Wednesday, January 19

Dates for the second round of testing will be announced in January.

This testing is mandatory for anyone with campus access for the spring and cannot be replaced by symptomatic or close contact testing done at Welty Student Health Center or other testing locations. Anyone who does not complete a COVID test at Cordiner during one of the above scheduled sessions will have their campus access suspended.

Spring COVID-19 Protocols

Our campus COVID practices for the spring remain largely unchanged from the fall. Please review the full, detailed Spring 2022 COVID-19 Protocols in our COVID-19 dashboard before returning to campus, but in the meantime here are the main things to remember:

Face Coverings: In accordance with the state of Washington mandate, masks are required at all times when you are indoors in the presence of someone who is not in your immediate household (which is only your roommate if you live in a residence hall) or you are in any public indoor space unless you are actively eating or drinking.
On-Campus COVID Testing: Symptomatic and close contact testing is available on-campus for both students and employees. Student testing takes place 9 to 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the back door of Welty Student Health Center without an appointment. We will also have at-home test kits available for students who develop symptoms and need to test on the weekend, which can be obtained by calling Campus Security. Employees should contact HR (hr@whitman.edu) to schedule an appointment during weekday business hours.
Visitors: Visitors to campus are only allowed for business or educational purposes, or as spectators for arts performances or athletic competitions, and must provide proof of being fully vaccinated.
Campus Access: buildings will remain accessible only to approved campus community members through swipe card access doorways.

If you have any questions about the booster requirement, COVID testing or our spring protocols, please reply to this email and a member of the Coronavirus Task Force will respond.

Thank you,
The COVID Testing Team