Dear Faculty and Staff,
We look forward to welcoming our staff members back to their regular on-campus schedules tomorrow, July 1. Our Operations and Facilities Team has been working to ensure all spaces on our campuses are prepared for your arrival.
As a reminder, faculty and staff who will be on campus are strongly encouraged to submit proof of their COVID vaccination or confirm that they have chosen to decline the COVID-19 vaccine, through the College’s health records management system by tomorrow, July 1.
Guidelines from the CDC and New York State continue to change and I want to provide you with updates to several of our College policies since our previous announcement in early June. We believe these updates are the best for our community and take into account numerous key factors. These include the level of community transmission, number of vaccinated individuals in our area, implementation of screening programs for unvaccinated population and continued monitoring of any local COVID-19 outbreaks. We will continue to monitor these key factors and expect to make additional policy revisions throughout the summer and for the fall term.
Revised COVID-19 Policies as of July 1, include the following:
Daily Screenings
Individuals must self-screen at home and not come to work if they are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19. You are not required to complete the daily screening in the Mavericks Safe App but may use it as a tool to facilitate your screening assessment.
Visitor Policy
Visitors to Mercy College Campuses are required to complete a COVID-19 visitor form, which requests information for contact tracing purposes. We request that all individuals/departments ask all visitors not come to a Mercy location if they are feeling ill. Admissions tours will be allowed to run with groups of up to 10 people and one guide. Masks must be worn.
Summer Mask Policy
Mercy’s previously announced Summer Mask policy continues through August.
Outdoors: Masks are not required when outdoors regardless of vaccination status.
Indoor Common Spaces: Masks are required for all individuals indoors when in common spaces such as hallways, bathrooms, elevators, cafeteria lines, bookstores and in libraries, as well as in the fitness center, health office or counseling office.
Classrooms: At this time, masks are required by faculty and students in all classrooms, regardless of vaccination status.
Offices: Masks are not required for those who work in individual offices. In shared offices, masks are not required for vaccinated individuals who are seated at their own desk. If all employees in an office are vaccinated, they may agree to not wear masks while moving about the office.
Visitors to offices or cubicles, including students: Masks are required when an individual visits someone’s office or cubicle. Masks can only be removed if both individuals are vaccinated and give consent to not wearing a mask. While you can ask someone whether they are vaccinated, it is against the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ask an individual why they are not vaccinated; if uncertain of vaccination status, continue to wear your mask.
Meeting rooms: Masks are required during group meetings regardless of vaccination status.
Events
Outdoor events no longer require prior approval. Indoor events with more than 100 guests must be pre-approved by the President or Provost.
Events with Food: Outdoor events may be held with grab-and-go or catered food. Indoor events will be limited to grab-and-go and individually packaged food.
COVID-19 Surveillance Testing
Faculty, staff and students who remain unvaccinated may be required to participate in weekly surveillance testing and may be subject to other limits should there be a COVID outbreak on campus.
Social Distancing
Mercy’s previously announced requirements for social distancing on-campus will continue through August, with the exception of the of the cafeterias where capacity limits in the seating area have been lifted.
Thank you for your continued support for keeping our community safe. We look forward to welcoming many of you back to campus tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Annette Piecora, SPHR
Director, Human Resources