Faculty who fail to submit their vaccination records by Oct. 27 will face disciplinary action, Associated Students Inc. (ASI) President D’Aungillique Jackson said at the Oct. 20 senate meeting.
Senators addressed repercussions for non-compliant faculty and students who do not complete COVID-19 vaccine certification and also elected new members to the senate Wednesday.
According to a statement sent to ASI from Jim Schmidtke, interim associate vice president for faculty affairs, faculty have been sent numerous emails regarding the required weekly testing mandates. Beginning Oct. 21 to Oct. 22, non-compliant faculty will be contacted.
The required weekly testing applies to faculty who have religious or medical exemption, and those who have not yet completed their self-certification forms.
“After the October 27 deadline, faculty will first receive a written counseling memo, and then if there’s still a continued lack of compliance, a formal written reprimand will be issued. This written reprimand can be placed in personnel files, which could affect decisions about tenure and promotion and ultimately future employment,” Jackson read.
Any continued non-compliance can result in more severe disciplinary action, including suspension.
In the written statement, Schmidtke emphasized the need to hold faculty accountable, however, he noted that potential suspension is still in discussion as it may affect students’ learning environments.
For any students on campus who have not yet completed vaccine certification, Jackson said policies were put into effect impacting Bulldog ID cards.
“Only 2% of our students have not completed their certification, and in total that’s about 167 who are taking in-person classes… Their Bulldog card is not going to be accessible for, like, on-campus services,” Jackson said.
A Bulldog ID is necessary to use facilities including the Student Recreation Center or printing services at the Henry Madden Library.
Students on campus who have not already completed vaccine certification will begin to see limits on their Bulldog ID.
In regards to Bulldog ID use, Jackson said that the keycard access program to university facilities she proposed at a previous senate meeting will not be implemented.
“I did tell you all last time that the university was looking at implementing keycard access… but I have most recently been told that the university has decided not to pursue [it] because the library has said that it’s going to cause too much of a traffic jam at the front entrance,” Jackson said.
