To: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: Piper Orton, Vice President for Administration and Finance, and Karen Petrulakis, General Counsel
Re: Health and Safety Update: Thanksgiving Testing Schedule
Date: November 12, 2021
With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, we want to update you on the College’s COVID-19 testing schedule for the holiday week starting Monday, November 22. We have also posted this information in the Fall 2021 Toolbox.
- Both testing sites will be closed Wednesday, November 24, through Friday, November 26.
- On Saturday, November 27, the College Club testing site will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- On Sunday, November 28, both testing sites will be open from 12 to 8 p.m.
- Testing sites will resume their regular schedules the week of Monday, November 29.
- On Saturday, December 4, the College Club testing site will be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
All faculty and staff should test on Monday, November 22, or Tuesday, November 23. You will not receive an appointment reminder and you do not need an appointment on those days, but you should consider testing between 7 and 11 a.m., when the testing site volume is lower. (If you are not able to test that Monday or Tuesday, you may test on Sunday, November 21, between 12 and 4 p.m.)
As a reminder, classes will be remote Monday, November 29, through Wednesday, December 1. Administrative and union staff should plan to work their normal schedules, including on-campus work. Unvaccinated faculty and staff who travel out of state for the holiday are required to quarantine for seven days prior to returning to campus.
Students will be tested three times during the week after Thanksgiving. The Broad Institute will likely experience a higher volume of tests to be processed after Thanksgiving, so test results may be delayed.
All vaccinated faculty and staff traveling out of state, except for regular commuters, must test on days 1 and 4 upon returning to campus. While this is a standard guideline for all faculty and staff out-of-state travel this semester, it is especially important following any Thanksgiving travel. You can test on these days without an appointment, but again, we recommend testing between 7 and 11 a.m., when testing volume is lower.
Faculty should have a negative test result before returning to the classroom after the Thanksgiving break. Faculty teaching on Thursday, December 2, should plan to test on Monday or Tuesday of that week; no appointment is necessary.
The CDC has recently expanded its guidance regarding COVID-19 booster shot eligibility. Higher education employees are in what the CDC considers a “high-risk setting” and are eligible for booster shots six months after being fully vaccinated with Pfizer or Moderna and two months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We encourage all of our faculty and administrative and union staff to schedule a booster shot. Please review these step-by-step instructions for how to submit your updated vaccination card in Workday. Select vaccination: Booster Shot to upload the image showing proof of your booster shot.
In addition, we strongly encourage all faculty and administrative and union staff to get the flu vaccine this season.
We hope you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family, whether you are traveling or staying local. We have had a safe, successful semester because of the vigilance and care you have demonstrated throughout the fall—thank you for all the ways you have contributed to this effort.
