Good morning colleagues,
As a follow up to the information disseminated in President Leahy’s open call and Summer 2022 Health Protocol email of last week, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you about University guidance and protocols regarding vaccination status, surveillance testing, isolation and quarantine requirements, mask mandates, and travel guidelines. This notice provides updates to my email earlier this week.
Updated Vaccination Policy
- Consistent with the University’s current vaccination policy, we continue to require that all members of the University community (i.e., students, faculty and staff) be vaccinated and boosted. We will also continue to allow for individual exemptions on the basis of approved medical or religious reasons. Staying up-to-date with vaccination recommendations is the best protection we can put in place to reduce the spread of COVID19 and its variants.
- Allowance for individual exemptions for approved medical or religious reasons will continue
- The Monmouth County Health Department will be offering walk-in clinics throughout the county during the months of April and forward if you wish to be vaccinated. No vaccination clinics are currently planned to take place on campus.
- New employees are required to provide the University with their vaccination status on the Health Center portal or email health@monmouth.edu
Documentation Requirement
- We continue to require all employees to provide up-to-date information on vaccination status. If you have received your initial dose(s) and/or booster please provide this information through the Employee Health Portal as soon as you have the information available. New employees will be required to provide the University with their vaccination status on the health portal as well.
Testing Protocols
- Tuesday, May 3, 2022 was the final day of surveillance testing. The Health Center will be testing only symptomatic employees beginning today. Any employee experiencing symptoms should report directly to the Health Center for testing and further instruction. If you test positive with a home test or at your own physician’s office please report these results to the Health Center as well. While the COVID19 Dashboard will no longer provide live information we are required to provide this data to the NJ Department of Health. Employees who test positive, regardless of vaccination status, are required to isolate for five (5) days; please note that the day you test is considered day zero. Please report all positive test results to the Health Center.
- The COVID19 campus dashboard will be removed from the Monmouth University website at the conclusion of the Spring 2022 semester.
Masking on Campus
· Effective May 16, 2022, the University will move to a campus-wide mask optional policy for all indoor spaces, including classrooms. Employees may request, but not require, masking in their respective classrooms and office spaces. It is important that we respect and support the decisions made by our colleagues with respect to masking.
Travel Guidelines
- Travel restrictions with respect to isolation, quarantine and testing for domestic travel have been lifted. In accordance with CDC guidelines, international travel protocols vary depending on the country of destination. Please check these travel requirements prior to travel. Monmouth University sponsored International Travel will be permitted to countries with a CDC and US Department of State Travel Advisory Level 4 Due to COVID.”
Omicron and Omicron Variant
- We are finding that the Omicron and Omicron variant (commonly called BA.2) are highly contagious. If a member of your household has COVID, there is a high probability that you and other members of your household will also test positive, regardless of vaccination and/or booster status. Please contact Health Services for advice and instructions if you are exposed.
NOTE: Under existing University protocols, in isolated situations where work needs to be performed and more than six (6) days of remote work is requested by an employee, approval is at the discretion of supervisor and area Vice President
What are employees expected to do?
| Vaccinated with Booster or Booster not yet due | Vaccinated without Booster, but past time for getting booster | Not vaccinated | |
| Tests Positive. Employee medically not able to work | Remain home as medically indicated. Use accrued sick leave. | Remain home as medically indicated. Use accrued sick leave. | Remain home as medically indicated. Use accrued sick leave. |
| Tests Positive. Employee medically able to work | Remain home as medically indicated. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued sick, NJ Sick (if applicable), personal or vacation. | Remain home as medically indicated. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued sick, NJ Sick (if applicable), personal or vacation. | Remain home as medically indicated. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued sick, NJ Sick (if applicable), personal or vacation. |
| Employee comes in close physical contact with someone who has COVID-19 | No reporting or quarantine requirement | Employee must first report the exposure to their area supervisor and the Office of Human Resources, and then quarantine pursuant to local public health guidelines and follow other guidelines as appropriate. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued sick, NJ Sick (if applicable), personal or vacation. | Employee must first report the exposure to their area supervisor and the Office of Human Resources, and then quarantine pursuant to local public health guidelines and follow other guidelines as appropriate. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued sick, NJ Sick (if applicable), personal or vacation. |
| If you have tested positive for COVID-19 within last 90 days but are outside of the period you may be contagious | No quarantine required | No quarantine required | No quarantine required |
| Need to be absent for the closing of a child’s school, or to care for child who is required to isolate or quarantine due to a positive test or direct exposure to COVID-19 and requires supervision by the employee | Employee must report closing or isolation/quarantine status to their area supervisor. May request remote work day(s) under the Pilot Remote Work Policy. Approval is at the discretion of the supervisor. If not approved, employee may take accrued NJ Sick (if applicable), regular sick, personal or vacation. |
The University and Crisis Management Team continue to monitor and assess all aspects of COVID-19 including community, county and state transmission rates as well as the University’s vaccination status in order to provide our community with the health and safety protocols necessary to keep faculty, staff and students apprised of the most current information available.
If you have additional questions, feel free to reach out to the Office of Human Resources.
Kathy Stein, PHR, GBA