Enrolled students who are noncompliant with the weekly required testing will lose access to Canvas until they become compliant. Continued noncompliance will result in additional disciplinary sanctions, up to and including conduct suspension upon the completion of a formal student conduct process.
In alignment with the recent announcement from the White House on federal vaccination requirements, all Penn State employees at all locations are now subject to a federal COVID-19 vaccination requirement. The deadline for employees to receive their final dose of a vaccine is Jan. 4, 2022
Penn State students, faculty and staff who are not vaccinated for COVID-19 and those who have not shared with the University that they are fully vaccinated will be required to test weekly for COVID-19 throughout the fall semester, or until they share with the University that they have been fully vaccinated.
In a move designed to limit the spread of COVID-19 on Penn State campuses, the union representing about 2,600 technical service employees, has agreed to follow University requirements for mask-wearing, regardless of vaccination status. The agreement goes into effect immediately.
Due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 conditions around the country and in Pennsylvania, effective immediately (Aug. 4), Penn State will require all students, faculty, staff and visitors — including those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated — to wear masks indoors at all campuses. Within the last 24 hours, many counties that are home to Penn State campuses have shifted to “orange” status, warranting an immediate adjustment to the University’s on-campus masking requirement.
Cara Exten, an assistant nursing professor and infectious disease epidemiologist, studies the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases in populations over time. She put her nearly 20 years of epidemiology experience to the test by helping the University create and execute a COVID-19 testing and contact tracing initiative.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health recently announced the dates for phases 1B, 1C and 2 of the commonwealth’s COVID-19 vaccination distribution program and Penn State is strongly encouraging all students, faculty and staff to sign up to get a vaccine as soon as they are eligible to receive one.
As of March 1 (the conclusion of the universal required re-testing period), the University is conducting random testing of between 1% and 2% of the University’s population of students and employees living, learning or working on campus as well as those who access campus.
Penn State is planning a phased return over the summer semester to a full on-campus learning environment for fall 2021. The University’s priorities continue to be the health and well-being of its students, faculty, staff and local communities, and the plans for expanded in-person classes have the flexibility built in to quickly respond to changing pandemic conditions, if necessary.
As part of the University’s comprehensive testing strategy for the spring semester, all Penn State students must meet requirements for COVID-19 testing prior to their return or if they are already living in their campus community.
