MCC Daily Tribune

Welcome to 2022 at MCC: Updated COVID-19 Guidelines in the Works

Happy New Year! I hope you had the opportunity to relax and restore over the break.

Thank you to those colleagues and students who helped open the doors for Intersession 2022 and to those who are preparing for an equally successful and safe spring semester start on Monday, January 24.

In response to the winter surge in COVID-19 cases, federal, state and county leaders have issued updated guidance and are mobilizing every resource available to keep New Yorkers safe. Governor Kathy Hochul’s Winter Surge Plan 2.0 focuses on keeping schools open, masking, testing, and increasing access to vaccines. Monroe County Executive Adam Bello echoes the Governor’s call to “Vax-Boost-Mask when in indoor public spaces.”

How will these updates impact MCC students and employees?
MCC administrators and our COVID-19 tactical workgroups are working to update spring semester guidelines and protocols and will keep you and our students informed in response to the recent changes. For the most part, our guidelines already satisfy updated state and county requirements. I hope you find the following points helpful in the meantime:

Students planning to engage in person at MCC for any reason during the spring semester must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19; have had at least one vaccine dose and have been granted a temporary medical accommodation to complete any vaccine series; or have been granted a medical or religious exemption by 11:59 p.m. Friday, January 14, 2022.
The definition of “fully vaccinated” does not include boosters.
Processes and forms are defined and available in the Student Health Services Portal.
Students who are eligible to receive a booster must verify receipt of a booster also using the Student Health Services Portal. (Eligibility is typically five or six months after completing a primary COVID-19 vaccine series, therefore, student verification timelines will vary.) Please see Acting Provost and Vice President Dr. McKinsey-Mabry’s corresponding MCC Daily Tribune article for more information about boosters.
MCC’s current COVID-19 testing and masking requirements will continue until further notice.
MCC employees are not required but are encouraged to verify vaccination and boosters using the Employee Vaccination Verification form. Beginning Jan. 6, colleagues will be able to verify both vaccination and booster information. Colleagues must be signed in to myMCC in order to access the verification form.

Together, we will continue to keep MCC among our community’s safest locations as we inspire the way forward from the inside out in the year ahead. Look for more updates in the MCC Daily Tribune and on the COVID-19 Updates & Resources web pages.

Please continue to send your questions to covid19response@monroecc.edu.

DeAnna Burt-Nanna
Office of the President
01/05/2022