Vaccine Mandate, New Access Pass, and More Important Updates
September 20, 2021
Dear Brooklyn College students, staff, and faculty,
We are almost a month into the Fall 2021 semester and, overall, we are managing the substantial change well. There are fewer delays at our entrances as people have come to learn the new requirements. People on campus continue to mask consistently and maintain physical distance from others whenever they can.
I write now to update you on a number of items.
Universal Student Vaccination Mandate
Per CUNY policy, unless they have a religious or medical exemption, all students taking in-person or hybrid courses must be vaccinated by Sept. 23 (this Thursday!) or they face administrative withdrawal from those courses and may lose financial aid. Starting Oct. 7, unless they have an exemption, all students (regardless of their course modality) must be verified in CUNYfirst as fully vaccinated or they will not be able to enter campus.
Vaccine Van
The college is hosting an NYC Vaccine Van on Campus Road this week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Vaccine Van is open to students and employees–and staff may visit it during work hours. Both the single-shot vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) and two-shot vaccine (Pfizer) are available, and anyone who receives their first dose at the Vaccine Van will receive a $100 gift card.
New Campus Access Pass
CUNY has changed the Everbridge VaxPass to a Cleared4 Access Pass. If you used a VaxPass, you should have already gotten an e-mail (“Welcome to Cleared4 at CUNY”), submitted the information it requested, and received a new Access Pass. If you never got the welcome e-mail, please e-mail RSTaccess@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
Ventilation
The college has upgraded all filtration devices throughout the campus and distributed personal air filtration devices to many offices. An outside inspector, Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, has been hired to conduct a detailed assessment of ventilation across the campus. The college remediated all areas Ramboll identified as problematic, passed all their inspections, and shared Ramboll’s final report with the PSC. The college has also posted a detailed ventilation summary on the website that indicates how each building on campus is ventilated by floor, the type of ventilation used, the areas served, the level of outdoor air intake, and the filtration level in each building. If you have ventilation concerns about a specific area, please let us know.
Office Safety
The college continues to be flexible and attentive to staff safety. Where appropriate, staff have been moved to different offices to enhance safety, and each office has received a welcome safety kit. Although there are no mandatory distancing protocols in the state or city, the college has worked to provide physical distancing in offices by instituting rotational schedules. If you would like to change your work schedule for safety reasons or you feel unsafe for any reason, please contact your supervisor or let us know.
Contact Tracing
As I detailed in my last letter, when a positive case is identified on campus, the college engages in thorough contact tracing. All close contacts (within six feet for ten minutes or more) are informed and issued instructions for quarantining and testing. The college notifies everyone who needs to take action in response to every case.
Federal Stimulus Funding
As I detailed in a prior letter, federal stimulus funds are being used to expunge student debt, hire teaching assistants and learning assistants for online classes, hire advisement coaches and additional mental health counselors for students, improve technology across the campus, and improve campus safety in a range of ways, including testing for COVID-19, enhancing ventilation, and hiring maintenance and repair staff. Throughout the year, we will work closely with the Master Planning Committee of Faculty Council on prioritizing campus needs for federal stimulus funding, and we will report how federal funds are being spent.
Brooklyn College Academy Students
Because high schools do not currently require vaccinations, the college has developed strict protocols for students who attend the NYC Department of Education high school in James Hall, the Brooklyn College Academy (BCA). The BCA has an exclusive entrance into James on Campus Road, and exclusive space in the building. BCA students, who must wear visible identification, may only use BCA bathrooms and, other than gym, attend classes in BCA rooms. When it is time for gym, DOE staff escort BCA students by group directly to and from a room in Roosevelt, which is used only by BCA at that time. BCA students are not allowed to access any other area of campus.
Any Problems
If you experience shaky Wi-fi, need a webcam or headphones, want to report an area that needs cleanup, or face other problems, please let us know. We want to be responsive to your needs and ensure that the campus is as safe and functional as it can be.
I want to close with a note of great thanks to those who have volunteered to be Campus Gate Ambassadors, working to troubleshoot and assist students, staff, and faculty with getting onto campus. As a result of their hard work, we have had very few problems at the gates. A special thanks to the leaders in our Undergraduate Student Government who developed the idea, Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives Marcus Richardson who coordinated it, and all the students and staff who volunteered to help in this crucial capacity.
I wish everyone good health and good cheer. If you have not yet been vaccinated, please take advantage of the NYC Vaccine Van on Campus Road.
Yours,
Michelle J. Anderson
President, Brooklyn College
