{"id":496,"date":"2022-02-07T12:03:53","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T17:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/?p=496"},"modified":"2022-02-07T12:05:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T17:05:51","slug":"returning-to-campus-safely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/2022\/02\/07\/returning-to-campus-safely\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning to Campus Safely"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As COVID-19 case numbers rise both on campus and across New Jersey, the University is monitoring the situation closely, and continues to follow state and federal guidelines and consult with our on-campus experts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The University will offer a full complement of in-person instruction and support services in spring 2022<\/strong>, and looks forward to welcoming you back to campus on Tuesday, January 18, with many precautions in place to reduce the risk of infection.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/g1uXKR7hUa4\" target=\"_blank\">Watch the Returning Safely for Spring 2022 Video.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: Keeping Our Campus Safe as We Return for Spring Semester\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g1uXKR7hUa4?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Why We\u2019re Coming Back<\/h2>\n<p>Our community returns for the start of the spring semester in a position of strength.<\/p>\n<p>More than 93% of our total campus population (students, faculty and staff) is vaccinated, which is currently the strongest line of defense against COVID-19. While case numbers have risen, the symptoms associated with the omicron variant have been shown to be more mild than previous variants, with only one case in the University community leading to hospitalization (and that person has recovered).<\/p>\n<p>The pivot to remote learning at the outset of the pandemic in 2020 also showed us that all-virtual instruction is not an ideal model for all students, creating both <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2021\/10\/19\/taking-care-of-each-other\/\" target=\"_blank\">educational and mental health challenges<\/a> for many and exacerbating equity concerns.<\/p>\n<p>To help you stay on track, achieve your educational goals and reduce the potential trauma of the pandemic, maintaining an in-person learning environment while keeping our community safe is a priority.<\/p>\n<h2>How We\u2019ll Do It<\/h2>\n<p>For the next few weeks, the administrative departments have adopted a phased return of staff to the campus. Some employees with non-student-facing duties will work off-campus, reducing office density while assuring that units continue to provide on-campus services and meet their commitments to supporting you and our community. Student-facing jobs should be performed in person on campus.<\/p>\n<h2>COVID-19 Boosters<\/h2>\n<p>In a continued effort to keep our campus and community safe, Montclair State University will be requiring all students to receive their COVID-19 booster. Details about the booster requirement (including information about a booster raffle!) will be sent to you via email shortly.<\/p>\n<h2>Keeping Each Other Healthy<\/h2>\n<p>The University is using the strategies that science has shown work to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Vaccinations:<\/strong> Being fully vaccinated \u2013 which means having a booster when you become eligible \u2013 is one of the best tools we have to control the virus. The Essex County Health Department will give vaccinations and booster shots on campus on Thursday, February 10. <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/montclair.co1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_51oxVvTXmV1fdT8\" target=\"_blank\">Register Today!<\/a> Or book an appointment at <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.essexcovid.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">any of the County\u2019s free clinics<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Testing:<\/strong> We have an <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-health-center\/testing-procedures\/\" target=\"_blank\">on-campus testing center<\/a>, located in Webster Hall, that provides free tests for all students and employees. All residential students will be required to provide a negative PCR test before moving back into the residence halls.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Masking:<\/strong> Masks will continue to be required indoors on campus, as well as outdoors in crowded settings or when participating in outdoor activities that involve close contact with other people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hawk Check:<\/strong> All members of the campus community and all visitors are required to complete this daily self-report of symptoms and exposures, which allows our health-care professionals to take quick actions to slow the spread of infection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Staying Home if Sick:<\/strong> At Montclair State, we like to share things \u2013 but not germs! We are reminding everyone to stay home whenever you are sick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cWe will continue to monitor the situation closely, consult with our on-campus experts who serve on the Community Health Advisory Team, and make adjustments based on the most current data and our understanding of the guidelines of the CDC and New Jersey Department of Health,\u201d says President Jonathan Koppell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe health and safety of our community members are public goods we create and maintain together,\u201d Koppell says. \u201cEvery community member must do their part to ensure our safety and our ability to achieve our mission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For more information, please visit the University\u2019s <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/redhawk-restart\/\" target=\"_blank\">COVID-19 Information website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s How to Follow the Safety Protocols and What to Expect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alerts-and-news","category-announcements","category-safety","category-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions\/503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/university-police\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}