TO: All Employees
FR: Karen Moranski, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Stan Nosek, Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance
Dear colleagues,
The message about checking students' vaccination status sent out yesterday morning has generated lots of questions about the role of faculty and staff as enforcers of campus policy. This email may help to clarify that role.
The onus is not on faculty and staff to ensure that students comply with the vaccination requirement. You should not feel like you need to be the "vaccination police." Campus administrators, mainly from Student Affairs, are reaching out to every single student who still needs to comply and working with them individually to ensure they do what is necessary to protect the health and safety of our community.
It would be helpful if we all do what we can to make sure that students in our spaces have met the requirements. We are not suggesting, however, that you confront students.
If you are a faculty member, you might consider reaching out through Canvas or email to all your students to remind them of the vaccination requirement, to let them know that they should not show up to class if they have anything other than a green indicator, and to suggest they contact the Student Health Center if they have a purple or red COVID clearance indicator. You can also remind all students in class (remote or in person), without singling anyone out, that all students need to be in compliance with the vaccination requirements and may not be able to register for spring classes if they are not. Remember that many of your students also want to know they are in a safe space where everybody has a green indicator.
If you are a staff member, you may wish to post signs in your office or unit asking students not to enter if they have a purple or red indicator screen on their wellness check, and letting them know they will be asked to leave the space if they do. Pointing out the sign as students enter your space holds them accountable without confrontation. Doing it with a kind word or a smile will help students know you care about them. We are close to reaching our shared goal of 100% compliance and these small efforts will help bring us over the finish line!
If you have further questions about student compliance, please reach out to covid.monitoring@sonoma.edu.