And yet, at the same time I want to express my hope for the future. We have also come together as a community to take care of each other. We see that in the over 90 percent vaccination rate. We see that in the compliance with the mask mandate requirement. All of these things are about caring for one another–and by doing so we have been able to create and maintain a safe learning experience.

So even as we look back with sadness, let’s maintain the optimism for the future. Because we have shown that by working together, we can overcome and we will overcome and we will thrive as a community.

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Vaccination is the best defense we have against COVID-19, and as we prepare to return to an on-campus academic year, it is vitally important for the safety of our campus community that as many of us as possible are vaccinated.

Please get vaccinated, and please report it. Unvaccinated people are at far greater risk of severe illness or death. Your life, and the lives of your colleagues, your students, your family and your friends depend on it.

As you are aware, we have mandated vaccination for our students, and the University continues to encourage all employees in the strongest possible terms to get vaccinated.

As of today, more than 80% of students and full time employees are vaccinated. That is good news, but our goal must be to get the whole campus as close to 100% vaccinated as possible.

Starting July 5th, we have required all new employees, and all individuals who have worked for the University previously and are being offered a new appointment, to provide proof of complete vaccination prior to their start date. Consistent with state law, they may request a waiver for medical or religious reasons.

For more information on how new hires should submit proof of vaccination or request an exemption, please visit this page on the Human Resources website.

Continuing employees who have been vaccinated should upload a copy of your vaccination card to the portal as soon as possible.

Starting Monday, August 16 employees who have not furnished the University with proof of complete vaccination will be required to adhere to the following protocols:

• Wear a mask at all times indoors, with no exceptions, and outdoors whenever it is not possible to remain 6 feet from other people
• Obtain a rapid test for COVID-19 twice weekly on non-consecutive days at the University’s testing center on campus
• Do Hawk Check every day, seven days a week, and accurately report any symptoms, exposures, positive test results and travel outside of the NJ region
• Do not come to the campus if Hawk Check tells you to stay away, and remain available for a phone call from Occupational Health, and
• Do not travel on University-related business other than locally within NJ and the immediate four-state region (NY, PA, CT, DE), and only with the prior written approval of the employee’s Dean or Vice President.

These protocols for unvaccinated employees are designed to help protect the health of every member of our campus community, while enabling the full functioning of the University, and they apply to all full-time and part-time unvaccinated employees.

Vaccination Clinics On Campus

The University has arranged with the Essex County Department of Health to provide all students and employees – and their families – with COVID-19 vaccinations at no cost. The clinics will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the following Mondays: Aug. 2, Aug. 9 and Aug. 16 in Lot 7, next to the Panzer Athletic Center.

All three approved vaccines will be available: the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, and the two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. All three are options for anyone 18 and older, but only the Pfizer vaccine is approved for persons aged 12-17.

Appointments are requested, but walk-ins will be allowed. Bring your University ID, please. to make an appointment online.

Vaccination is our best defense against COVID-19, and the surest path for us to be able to provide the educational experience our students deserve. I am grateful to the large number of employees who have voluntarily shared their proof of vaccination with the University, and I ask those who have not done so to please, get vaccinated and report it through .

Sincerely,

President Cole

As you are aware, the first COVID-19 vaccines have been approved and have begun to be distributed in New Jersey. The state’s goal is to make the vaccine available for free to all adults who live or work in New Jersey or who attend a college or university in New Jersey, but the timeframe that will be necessary to achieve that goal is not yet clear. Unfortunately, the pace of vaccination appears to be moving far more slowly than we would have hoped, and the demand for vaccination greatly exceeds the available supply.

We are keeping a very close eye on vaccine distribution, and we will provide more information to the University community as it becomes available. The University is confident that there is more than sufficient scientific evidence that the two vaccines that have been approved for use in the U.S. are both safe and effective and that inoculating as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, is the best strategy for defeating the virus and ending this devastating pandemic. For that reason, the University will do whatever we can to make vaccination possible for the University community, but the current shortage of vaccines is posing a significant obstacle.

While we await resolution of that problem, there are two things you can do. First, if you have not already done so, please register on the . The system will assign you to a priority group and notify you when it is time for you to make an appointment to be vaccinated.

Second, please keep rigorously practicing all the precautions that science has shown to be effective in slowing the spread of the disease and that have been working well for the University community: wear your mask, keep a safe distance from others, stay home if you are sick, keep your hands clean, limit your travel, and remember to do . These are the tools that are available to us, and our University community has been quite diligent in following these precautions, which is a large part of why we have been able to continue many on-campus activities and have not seen the outbreaks that have happened on other campuses.

A number of people have asked if students and employees will be required to get vaccinated, once the vaccines are available. Federal and state law, as it currently stands, does not permit the University to require that students or employees get vaccinated, but I strongly urge you to do so as soon as you are eligible and have the chance. If and when the law changes, the University’s policy and requirements may also change.
Many of you have found convenient resources for testing, but if you need access to COVID-19 testing, one option for the Montclair State community is to use the Passaic County testing site on our campus. The site is open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in January in Lot 60. If you do use this testing site, please use 147 Clove Road, Little Falls, NJ 07424 as your address, so that our University Health Center will receive your results. As we head into the start of the spring term in February, there will be more information about the University’s testing program.

Sincerely,
President Cole