Student Vaccination Requirement FAQs
Reminder to students: Your official vaccination record must be uploaded to https://wcsu.medicatconnect.com/. For the many of you who have already submitted your records, thank you.
If you have trouble submitting your proof of COVID vaccination, please contact the IT&I Service Desk at 203-837-8467 or at requestIT@wcsu.edu
Testing for unvaccinated students takes place at the Hall of Fame of the O’Neill Center on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from noon to 6 p.m. For more information about testing and other aspects of the university’s Covid-19 response, please read the FAQs below.
Thank you, in advance for your assistance. Your timely response is much appreciated.
To request a medical exemption to vaccination, fill out the form here.
If you wish to request a non-medical exemption, visit here.
Yes. All undergraduate and graduate students who come to campus — both residential and commuter students — must be fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus. Following the advice of the CSCU Board of Regents and upon thorough review of the information provided by the Center for Disease Control, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the Connecticut Reopens Guidelines, we believe that requiring vaccinations will provide the best chance to operate normally in the fall.
Yes, there are exemptions for medical and non-medical reasons. The medical exemption form is here. Submit this record to healthservices@wcsu.edu. The non-medical form is here. All requests for exemptions will be considered in a timely manner.
- For medical exemptions, you will be notified by health services when we receive the signed document from your physician.
- For non-medical exemptions, your request will be evaluated by the University’s Covid-19 Team and you will be contacted by the Office of Student Affairs via email within two business days of your application.
Yes. We require documentation of vaccination or an approved exemption for all students regardless of learning modality. This is because a) schedules change and b) online students may also wish to participate in campus activities, commencement, or use library and/or recreational facilities.
- Go to the WCSU Health Services Patient Portal (https://wcsu.medicatconnect.com/)
- Sign in using your WCSU ID (without the @wcsu.edu) and password
- Click Uploads:
- Select COVID-19 Test Results as the type of document you are loading
- Follow the detailed instructions on the Upload screen if you need help.
- Click Upload to submit your COVID-19 PCR test results.
Vaccination is the only way to move toward normal life on campus. Although masking, social distancing and weekly testing was helpful, students were subjected to multiple quarantines as we managed the spread of the virus in our campus community. Our goal is to avoid these disruptions and return to a normal, mask-free, educational environment as soon as possible.
In addition, the most recent data on severe cases of COVID-19 (Delta Variant) shows that it is nearly exclusively hitting the unvaccinated. Because older adults were early in the vaccination cycle, the hospitalizations are now more commonly among young adults. We hope that with the vaccine mandate in Connecticut we will help to stop the spread of this variant.
We believe, as do state health officials, that a vaccination rate of 80% to 90% on campus will minimize the spread among students, faculty and staff and keep those who cannot receive the vaccine as safe as possible.
Students who are granted an exemption to the mandate will have to wear masks on campus, socially distance themselves, and report the results of weekly testing. They may not be allowed to attend large events on campus. We have opted for weekly testing because of the specific conditions of higher education. Unlike public spaces in which vaccinated and non-vaccinated people mix (grocery stores, for example), classrooms have students together for more than an hour, sitting in relatively close proximity to each other. The spread of COVID-19 generally takes several minutes of sustained exposure. With variants spreading, and a keen desire to operate normally while protecting our community, we feel that frequent testing is the only option until we reach nearly universal vaccination status.
If you do not submit proof of vaccination and have not received an approved exemption, you will not be permitted to move into the residence halls, and you may be dropped from your fall classes.
Once you are vaccinated, the Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS), will document your status. Your record is easily downloaded in pdf format from VAMS. Simply upload that pdf to https://wcsu.medicatconnect.com/, which is the same place your vaccinations for childhood diseases are stored. If you have difficulty with this process, please send an email for assistance to healthservices@wcsu.edu.
Yes, students at Eastern, Central and Southern Connecticut State Universities and the 12 community colleges all must also follow the mandate. In addition, UConn, Yale, CUNY, SUNY and nearly every private university in the Northeast has mandated vaccines for students, as have Connecticut public school districts and hospitals in the state. Here are the FAQs from the CSCU Board of Regents, which approved the mandate on June 24.
Students who have internships (at hospitals, medical centers, clinics, etc.) connected to their academic studies at a CSCU institution, and who do not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine due to medical or non-medical reasons, should apply for an exemption at that organization/site. CSCU can only grant and control medical and non-medical exemptions on the college campus, not outside it. We understand that some clinical/allied health sites may not allow for any exemptions, and if this is the case, advisers will work with the student to find an alternate suitable site if possible.
HOUSING AND RESIDENCE LIFE
Will residence halls have any extra rules?
Yes. We are returning to near-normal in the residence halls but some precautions will remain.
- Vaccines - Students who live on campus must be vaccinated (or receive an exemption - medical or other). You will not be permitted to move into on-campus housing unless you have been vaccinated or have received either a medical or non-medical exemption. ALL students, vaccinated or not, must receive an arrival antigen test on campus before they may move into the halls. Residential students with an approved medical or other exemption will need to :
- Be tested upon their arrival on campus prior to being able to move into their residence hall.
- If their results return with a positive result, they will isolate at home for the required period. At the end of the isolation period, they may return to move into their assigned room.
- Exempted (medical or non-medical) unvaccinated students are required to be tested weekly for covid. Testing will be available on campus.
- Students who test positive for covid will be moved to isolation in Fairfield Hall if they live on Midtown, while Westside students will isolate in suites or apartments.
- Be tested upon their arrival on campus prior to being able to move into their residence hall.
- Masks - The university requires that masks must be worn in ALL INDOOR facilities. Masks are required to be worn in all public areas of the residence halls (hallways, bathrooms, lounges, study areas, laundry, etc.). Masks will not be required to be worn by residents within their own room/suite/apartment unless it is in the 5-day period immediately following isolation for testing positive. (Guests are required to be masked while in the building, including within your room/suite/apartment).
- Frequent hand washing/sanitizing. Stations will continue to be set up around campus, including throughout the residence halls, for hand sanitizing. Make use of these stations and good handwashing as frequently as you can. Again – this and wearing masks are the two best tools available for keeping all of us safe!
- Cleaning – The WCSU Facilities staff has been and remains hard at work keeping surfaces clean. They will continue to focus on our residence halls and classrooms, where there is the most risk of exposure. This means that your public spaces may be temporarily closed down for additional cleaning throughout the day. Even with their increased presence and cleaning, the responsibilities for keeping rooms and apartments clean is, as always, the job of the students who live in that room/suite/apartment. For example, in addition to regular deep cleaning in private bathrooms, students should be wiping down their bathrooms after use (as will most of us in public bathrooms as well) along with doorknobs and other high-touch surfaces in the apartments.
- Visitation will return to "normal", with each student being permitted up to two (2) guests at a time. ALL guests must wear masks while in the building, including in individual rooms, and regardless of their vaccination status. Visitation policies will revert to normal sign-in and escort regulations. Please see the full visitation guidelines in the HRL Guide, Policies, and Procedures area of the website.
- Testing - unvaccinated students will be tested weekly by a campus provider. Vaccinated students will not need to be tested unless they become symptomatic for Covid. Please look for updates throughout the semester. Once again, those who are required to be tested will be documented for failure to test and referred to Judicial Affairs. Students who test positive will be required to isolate, either at home or in Fairfield Hall on Midtown or in rooms/suites/apartments on Westside.. Roommates and contacts may also be required to isolate as well if you test positive or are symptomatic.
- Upon arrival at campus, all residents must be tested on campus, either at the Hall of Fame in the O'Neill Center, or at the Colonial Corner in the Student Center. Once tested, you'll receive a wristband which will allow for entry to the residence halls. Wristbands must be worn through January 21st.
- Tests for move-in will be antigen (rapid) tests. The antigen test you need to move onto campus will only tell us if you CURRENTLY have/are shedding Covid. It's not like the PCR test, which can read as positive for months following a positive Covid diagnosis. That's why we're requiring you to have the antigen test when you come to campus.
- Additional testing may be required. Please look for information posted here and in the buildings, via social media, or via your @wcsu.edu email accounts.
- Social Distancing will continue to be practiced as much as is possible throughout campus. Capacity limits will be reviewed and expanded or limited based on guidance from the State's Department of Public Health in consultation with WCSU's Covid Coordinator. We do suggest that students continue to practice social distancing as much as is possible. Health, Fire, and Safety inspections in rooms, suites, and apartments will recommence this spring.
- Move-in - all students will be assigned a specific move-in time. All students move in for Spring 2022 on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. See specific testing information just above.
As information and knowledge about Covid-19 develops, these procedures may change. We will do our best to keep you informed of what is happening and what changes are coming. As you’ve most certainly seen yourselves, we are living in a time that is filled with the unknown, which we know brings a much higher level of anxiety with it. But, knowing that we’re all in the same boat – after all, we work and often live in the buildings you live in – we hope that all of us can keep in mind to be considerate of others, to be kind, and to try to follow rules which may seem arbitrary on the surface, but are truly being developed to keep each of us safe and healthy, while still allowing you to experience all the wonderful things that living on campus can be.