To: Wellesley College Faculty and Staff
From: Piper Orton, Vice President for Finance and Administration; Karen Petrulakis, General Counsel; and Carolyn Slaboden, Chief Human Resources Officer
Re: Health and Safety Update: Start of Spring Semester
Date: January 19, 2022
We are writing to provide you with additional information regarding the COVID-19 testing schedule and health and safety protocols for the start of the spring semester.
Booster requirement
Boosters substantially increase protection against both the omicron and delta variants, and will be important for your health and the health of others as we return to campus. The deadline to submit your proof of a booster was January 15. If you have not yet uploaded your updated vaccination card in Workday, please do so right away. Employees who do not satisfy the booster requirement are subject to being placed on unpaid leave.
If you would like assistance with uploading your vaccination card, LTS staff will be available at Beebe on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9–11 a.m. until January 29. Individuals can also email the Help Desk and LTS will assist you remotely. If you are not yet eligible for a booster, please upload proof within 30 days of becoming eligible.
Please remember that if you are eligible for a booster and have not yet received one and you become exposed to COVID as a close contact, under CDC guidelines you are potentially subject to being quarantined for five days, followed by strict mask-wearing for five days. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to obtain a booster as soon as possible.
Testing
Faculty and staff who will be on campus at least one day a week are expected to continue to test once a week as part of the College’s asymptomatic testing program.
For the start of the semester, we will be conducting rapid and individual PCR tests at the College Club for students through January 29. We hope to identify positive cases among students quickly and move those students to isolation. We are asking dining staff to take a rapid test and individual PCR test at the College Club on their first day of work after the break.
All other faculty and staff are encouraged to test at Beebe from now until January 29. These will be pooled PCR tests, similar to the fall semester. You can test any day or time the testing center is open without an appointment until the week of February 4. Please update your preferred days and locations for testing for the rest of the semester in the Toolbox before February 4. You will then receive appointment reminders beginning February 5. Please note that departments should not administer their own testing programs or purchase their own rapid antigen tests.
Note: If you are a faculty member teaching this spring, it is important that you obtain at least one negative PCR test prior to the start of in-person classes. If you believe you have been exposed to COVID recently, we encourage you to test early the week of January 24 so that you have sufficient time to isolate for five days prior to the start of in-person classes on January 31.
Below is a summary of testing plans, hours, and locations for the start of the semester:
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The Beebe testing site will reopen for pooled PCR testing on Thursday, January 20, and will be open daily through Sunday, January 30. After that, Beebe will be open Sunday through Friday each week.
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The College Club is currently being used for individual PCR and rapid antigen testing. We will be onboarding all students at the College Club between Thursday, January 20, and Monday, January 24. We strongly suggest that you avoid testing at the College Club during this time. If you have mobility concerns and prefer to test at the College Club, we encourage you to test first thing in the morning as there may be a wait time during the day. You may also be asked to go to the College Club if your pooled test result requires individual testing.
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Faculty and staff who have traveled out of state or internationally must obtain one negative test result in Massachusetts prior to returning to work on campus and before entering the classroom. If you obtained a PCR test off campus, please send the test result to campuskey@wellesley.edu. Unvaccinated faculty and staff are required to quarantine for five days following out-of-state and international travel and before returning to campus. Please fill out the travel tracker for international travel.
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Students are required to provide proof of their booster shots, complete in-room restrictions, and obtain two negative PCR tests on campus before returning to the classroom. Students who test positive will isolate at hotels in Framingham and Natick. Students will also continue to test twice a week throughout the semester.
Testing center hours
The testing schedule is below. It is also posted online in the Toolbox.
| Week beginning |
Day | Hours | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 16 | THURS | 7–11 a.m. 12–4 p.m. |
Beebe (fac/staff preferred) College Club |
| FRI | 7–11 a.m. 12–4 p.m. |
Beebe (fac/staff preferred) College Club |
|
| SAT | 7–11 a.m 12–4 p.m. |
Beebe (fac/staff preferred) College Club |
|
| JAN 23 | SUN | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Beebe (fac/staff preferred) College Club |
| MON–SAT | 7–11 a.m. 12–4 p.m. |
Beebe (fac/staff preferred) College Club |
|
| JAN 30* | SUN | 12–4 p.m. | Beebe & College Club |
| MON–FRI | 7–11 a.m. 12–4 p.m. |
Beebe & College Club | |
| SAT | 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | College Club |
Please remember to check Keeping Wellesley Healthy often for the latest information on Wellesley’s approach to health and safety this spring, and email campuskey@wellesley.edu with any questions regarding testing.
Reporting positive tests
If you have tested positive for COVID over the break through off-campus testing, please report that in the Toolbox. According to CDC guidelines, you will be excluded from testing for 90 days, so this information enables us to determine the appropriate testing schedule for you when you return to campus. Your return to testing date will appear in your Toolbox.
Contact tracing and notification of positive results
Due to the volume of cases, we are shifting to sending texts and emails notifying community members of positive test results. We are also asking individuals who test positive to fill out a contact tracing questionnaire in the Spring 2022 Toolbox. Contact tracers will only follow up personally if they have questions regarding this form.
Faculty and staff who test positive will still receive a telephone call from a nurse from the Occupational Environmental and Health Network (OEHN), who will advise on release from isolation as well as your subsequent testing schedule. Please answer these calls. View our isolation guidance for faculty and staff.
Masking
We are encouraging all members of the College community to wear well-fitting surgical masks, KN95s, or KF94s. High-quality surgical masks will be available at testing sites. If you do not feel they fit tightly enough, you can add a well-fitting cloth mask over the surgical mask. We do not have access to sufficient supplies to provide everyone on campus with KN95s or KF94s; we are prioritizing faculty and dining, facilities, campus safety, and residential life staff, as well as others who spend a significant part of their work in face-to-face contact with students. Please consider this when placing a service request for masks on the Facilities website.
Administrative staff hybrid work
For the spring semester, division heads and managers will determine which administrative roles could continue to be effective with one to two remote work days per week and which could be predominantly remote (three to five days per week). For example, some positions focused on technology/data analytics, research, or fund-raising may be well suited to being predominantly remote. This list is not exhaustive, nor does it mean that all roles in these categories will move to being predominantly remote. The manager in each area will have discretion to make these decisions in conjunction with division heads. We expect that all staff will be on campus regularly, even if not weekly. Requirements for working in one of the approved states will apply.
We have started to see the positivity rate in Massachusetts drop slightly, and we will continue to review the public health data and our experience as students, faculty, and staff return to campus. We may need to adjust our approach and protocols based on the changing public health situation.
Thank you for your continuing efforts to help keep our community as safe as possible.
