08/24/2021
By Lauren Turner

All UMass Lowell employees working on campus will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be approved for a medical or religious exemption following agreements finalized in the last week with our unions.

The university informed non-union and part-time employees Aug. 12, as well as contractors and vendors who work on campus, that they must be fully vaccinated. Depending on their union membership, employees have already been, or will be, emailed a link to verify their status with the university by uploading a copy of their vaccination cards to Human Resources through a confidential submission process.

A survey of all employees conducted the first week of August indicated that more than 95% of employees are or will be fully vaccinated before the semester begins.

I know I speak for Chancellor Jacquie Moloney and the entire university when I say how proud I am of all UMass Lowell faculty and staff who have worked tirelessly to minimize the risk of COVID-19 as we have slowly expanded our on-campus population.

As we return to full operations, I am grateful to our unions for partnering with us to require vaccinations and to all employees for continuing to keep our campus as healthy as possible.

The university announced in April that students who learn or live on campus would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exemption for the Fall 2021 semester.

With more documents uploaded and reviewed every day, nearly 90% of on-campus students have uploaded their vaccination cards. Around 160 students have been granted an exemption.

All faculty, staff and students approved for an exemption will be required to undergo weekly surveillance screening and wear a face covering. Consistent with current state and federal public health guidelines, UMass Lowell has also implemented a temporary indoor mask requirement for all individuals on campus, with the hope of relaxing that mandate when the current wave of increased cases subsides.

Additionally, all UMass Lowell campus community members are expected to continue conducting daily symptom checks and to stay home or in their residence hall rooms if they have symptoms.

River Hawks begin moving into the residence halls on Aug. 28 and classes begin Sept. 1.