Dear Students,

Don’t be left out in the cold, literally, on January 31! Make sure you’ve completed the campus access requirements, outlined below, before we return to in-person classes.

• All students accessing campus must be fully vaccinated or approved for an exemption. 
• Documentation of your COVID-19 booster shot will be due February 28. Please hold off on submitting your documentation until TC provides an upload form (coming later this month).
• If you are NOT yet eligible for a booster shot yet - that’s OK! You will not be required to upload proof of a booster shot until you are eligible to receive one based on these CDC booster guidelines. We will soon provide more information about how students who are not yet eligible for a booster can submit their documentation after the February 28 deadline. 
• If you did not submit proof of your initial COVID-19 vaccine(s) during the Fall 2021 semester please do so as soon as possible.

Upload Proof of Initial COVID-19 vaccine

• If you received a medical or religious exemption for the initial COVID-19 vaccine(s), that will also apply to the booster shot. If you are fully vaccinated but would would like to request a medical or religious exemption for the booster shot, please complete the steps outlined on this page. You may also request an exemption based on pregnancy or breastfeeding status.

• Upload your proof of flu vaccine via the myTC Portal ASAP. The deadline was January 10, so if you have not submitted documentation already, it must be done prior to accessing campus. 
• If you received your flu shot at Columbia Health, please go to the CU Health Portal, download your proof of vaccination, and then upload it to the myTC Portal. CU Health does NOT automatically send your records to TC for privacy reasons. 
• If you would like to request a medical or religious exemption from the flu vaccine, please follow the steps outlined in the myTC Portal.
• A flu vaccine is required for all students. If you do not submit your proof of vaccine or receive a medical or religious exemption, you will not have access to campus. 

Upload Flu Vaccine

• Upload results from a PCR test by January 28.
• Your result must come from a test that was administered after January 3. This will be your gateway test to access campus for the Spring 2022 semester. 
• If you received a positive test result, in addition to uploading it, please also complete the Daily Health Screening. This will trigger an alert to the Environmental Health and Safety Team, who will then contact you to explain the necessary isolation steps, indicate when you will be permitted to return to campus, and provide a date to submit a second PCR test (which will be 90 days after the date of your positive test).
• Please note that if you had COVID-19 at any time within the past 90 days, you may continue to receive a positive result on a PCR test even after you complete an isolation period and you are no longer infectious. To rectify this situation, you should complete the Daily Health Screening and indicate that you are testing positive for COVID-19. As mentioned in the previous bullet point, the Environmental Health and Safety Team will contact you to explain next steps.

Upload PCR Test Result

• To further prevent the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, TC will now require all community members to wear surgical-grade masks. These disposable masks, which have wire at the top to fit your nose, should fit snugly against the sides of your face without gaps and cover both the mouth and nose. 
• A cloth mask alone will no longer be acceptable. You may choose to wear a cloth mask over your surgical mask, if you like, or you may wear a higher grade mask.

• Any day that you plan to access campus, you must complete the Daily Health Screening before your arrival.
• If you receive a  (green check), you may proceed to campus.
• If you receive a  (red x), you will receive an email that indicates which of the three prior steps you have missed and must complete before retaking the screening.

Complete the Daily Health Screening

Note: You must use TC’s Daily Health Screening, NOT CU’s ReOpen app, to access both TC and CU campus. The ReOpen app is not intended for TC community members. If you use it, you will receive a  (red x) and be denied campus entry.

• You should also complete the Daily Health Screening to notify the College if you test positive for COVID-19 at any point during the semester. This will alert our Environmental Health and Safety Team and they will follow up with you directly to provide additional information.

If you did not access campus during Fall 2021, you must also complete the COVID-19 safety training before joining us.

I look forward to seeing you all on campus! If you have any questions about these requirements, please email returntocampus@tc.columbia.edu.

Best,
 
Thomas Rock
Vice Provost for Student Affairs