As the world continues to face against COVID-19, Mercy College has updated it’s COVID-19 requirements to ensure a safe learning environment for the upcoming spring 2022 term.

On Oct. 1, students received an email from the VP of Student Affairs, Kevin Joyce, that outlined the expectations and deadlines for all students.

For continuing students, especially those who plan on taking in-person classes, must submit vaccination proof to Mercy’s Student Health Portal by Oct. 29. If this requirement is not met, students can experience a hold on their accounts that will make them ineligible for class registration. Class registration for the spring term starts Nov. 3.

Students who plan to stay online and have no intentions of coming to any Mercy campuses will not be required to submit their vaccination status.

Mercy will move forward with the weekly COVID-19 testing for students that have an approved medical or religious exemption from the vaccine. Mercy has made it clear that these weekly testings are not an alternative to getting vaccinated.

Weekly testing is not new at Mercy, especially for students who live on campus. Residential students were introduced to COVID testing during the fall 2020 term.  At the time, surveillance testing of randomly selected students and staff was implanted to track COVID-19 in the campus community.

As for our current term, Fall 2021, residential students were required to submit their proof of vaccination, take a 15-minute COVID-19 test upon arrival, and participate in mandatory weekly testing.

Following the Considerations for Institutions of Higher Education by the CDC, updated on July 23, the college has implemented different strategies to track cases of COVID on campus.

“IHE [Institutions of Higher Education] administrators should create programs and policies that facilitate the adoption and implementation of prevention strategies to slow the spread of COVID-19 at the IHE and in the local community,” stated on the guide.

The Mavericks Safe App, first introduced in fall 2020, replaced the Crisis Manager App to not only bring new features but to initiate the use of a health screening tool. This health screening was to be used daily with questions pertaining exposure to COVID-19. A green QR code from the health screening granted students and faculty access to campus buildings.

If you had a red pass, one would be advised to stay home and denied access to campus buildings.

Mercy reintroduced the Mavericks Safe App with updated features on Oct. 11. Instead of doing a daily questionnaire, students and faculty who have submitted their proof of vaccination are met with Vaccine Passport Status, similar to that of New York’s Excelsior Pass.

The Vaccine Passport QR codes follow the same color scheme as the QR codes from the daily health screening. In an email from the Department of Campus Safety, a green QR codes means there is proof of your vaccination, yellow indicated there is currently no proof of vaccination, this will include those with an approved medical or religious exemption, and are compliant with weekly COVID testing, and red shows there is no proof of vaccination and one is not compliant with weekly COVID testing.

Mercy has thought about students who are either a bit apprehensive coming to campus or would rather purse their education online as the college announced its plan on offering many courses fully online.

However, online students might be required to go to campus for strictly in-person classes depending on their enrolled program as the college plans to have more on campus classes.

Students in the School of Health and Natural Science that are registered for a clinical experience/rotation for the spring 2022 term are required to be vaccinated. No exemptions are allowed as a vaccination is required for health care facilities.

Though the majority of residential and faculty members are vaccinated, the college is continuing to enforce its mask policy.

Joyce included a safety reminder for masks. “I would also like to take this opportunity to remind all of you that the college has a mask policy that requires everyone to wear a mask in all indoor spaces on campus – this includes classrooms. Masks should cover your nose and mouth.”

For more detail on Mercy’s mask policy visit https://www.mercy.edu/campus-life/fall-2021-return-campus