Dear UMBC Community,

Our on-campus testing and case response results continue to demonstrate that we are on the downward slope of the COVID-19 curve caused by the Omicron variant. Due to these results,  we were pleased to reopen lounges and community spaces in residence halls this past week.

Yesterday, the University System of Maryland released a statement sharing that each campus is in the process of evaluating its health and safety measures, and that each would be taking a “measured, step-down approach to relaxing their mitigation protocols.” We want you to know that this evaluation process is currently happening at UMBC.

The COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee and a series of workgroups meet weekly to review the data and recommend next steps. We are also actively consulting with our shared governance leaders and other key constituents to understand the needs of community members. We are discussing several measures - including our mask requirements - and hope to be able to share updates with you soon. We anticipate that any steps we take will include both phased approaches and context specific recommendations. We continue to hear from groups with unique requests and safety concerns and know that one approach may not apply to our entire campus. Since we know that the virus will be with us for some time, any rollback will also be accompanied by an option to reinstate measures should another variant affect our community.   

Thank you for your continued partnership and patience as we navigate this pandemic. To understand current health and safety requirements, please visit our COVID-19 website and contact us at covid19@umbc.edu if you have questions. Finally, we continue to offer free on-campus COVID-19 booster shots. If you have not already done so, please sign up today!

Provost Philip Rous

Vice President of Information Technology and CIO Jack Suess

COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs