Dear UMBC Community,
Thank you for your help closing out our spring semester as we weathered another COVID-19 surge in Maryland. We appreciate all of the teams that have continued to respond to cases on campus and are also busy planning for the fall semester. We are pleased to share some broad updates at this time.
At present, masking remains required in classrooms. We continue to monitor community risk levels, and if campus or community infection rates change, we will adjust these health and safety measures as necessary.
Moving forward into the fall semester, all residential students will be required to remain up to date on their COVID-19 vaccination. Vaccination is strongly recommended for all other eligible students, faculty, and staff. Unvaccinated residential students must have an approved medical or religious exemption or a completed waiver on file and will receive more information on this process soon.
We now know that COVID-19 will continue to affect our operations for some time. It will remain essential that as many community members as possible are up to date with their vaccination as scientific experts are clear that a high community vaccination rate is the most effective way to reduce significant illness from COVID-19. We will be offering on-campus vaccination clinics in the fall semester for booster shots and initial vaccinations for new students.
In addition to these clinics, we plan to continue other health and safety protocols in the fall. We will distribute free high-quality masks across campus and will be a place where community members are encouraged to wear masks to protect themselves. We will continue to monitor community risk levels, and if campus or community infection rates rise, we will increase these health and safety measures when needed. While most community members who test positive will isolate off campus, we will continue to provide support for those that need it. We ask that all community members monitor themselves for symptoms and stay home when they are sick.
We will share additional details and updates before the start of the fall semester. We wish you a summer that is restful and relaxing.
Provost Philip Rous
Vice President of Information Technology and CIO Jack Suess
COVID-19 Planning Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs
