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Reminders and resources for students as we transition back to campus

Eileen Doran | Posted on August 16, 2021

We hope you are all enjoying your summer.  We look forward to seeing our current students back on campus, and we heartily welcome all of our incoming students to the AHS community. As we transition back to the fall 2021 semester, we wanted to share some important reminders, updates, and resources.

Campus Safety Measures and Vaccinations:

Highlighted below are the latest guidelines for maintaining a safe campus. Please take a moment to read through and keep them in mind as you prepare for the fall semester.

Masking Guidelines:

  • Masking indoors is still required, including in classrooms, except when alone in a private office or personal residence hall room, or when an individual has a documented medical condition, disability or other reason that prevents them from safely wearing a face mask.
  • Scarves, bandanas and gaiters do not replace a required mask, as they do not provide the same level of protection as a face mask.
  • Individuals who are fully vaccinated are not required to wear masks outdoors on university property.
  • Individuals who are not fully vaccinated are allowed to unmask outdoors on university property if traveling alone more than 6 feet from others.

Vaccination Requirements:

Per the official campus communication sent out on July 28, 2021 regarding student COVID-19 vaccinations requirements, all students participating in on campus classes and activities will be required to be vaccinated.

Vaccination Disclosure:

  • All returning students were requested to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status by August 1. If you have not done so already, please update here before coming to campus.
  • Freshman, transfer and new graduate students should disclose vaccination status by August 16.
  • Students should update their vaccination status through UIC Healthcheckwhen they become fully vaccinated.
  • If you have questions about disclosing your vaccination status, please email COVIDtesting@uic.edu.
  • Data related to vaccination status, and any related documents, are stored and protected in secured databases and will be used to implement health and safety measures on campus. No other health information will be collected.

Vaccination Exemptions:

  • In the interest of the health and safety of our entire UIC community, exemptions are limited to very specific medical exemptions with physician documentation and religious exemptions. To request an exemption, refer to the proof of vaccination and exemption process online.
  • Individuals who receive an exemption will be required to participate in on-campus COVID-19 saliva testing at least weekly, daily symptom monitoring via UIC Healthcheck, quarantine if exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, and continue to wear a face covering at UIC.
  • Clinical rotations and other off-site experiences may have additional requirements that are not met by this exemption process.  Please consult your program for additional information.

Partially Vaccinated Status:

  • If you are partially vaccinated at the beginning of the fall semester, you may participate in on-campus activities if you have a scheduled final vaccine dose and vaccination completion is imminent; however
    • You must continue to participate in on-campus COVID-19 saliva testingat least weekly
    • Complete the daily UIC HealthcheckCOVID-19 Self Monitoring Survey
    • You may update your vaccination status through UIC Healthcheck after your final vaccine dose.

Vaccination Appointments:

  • If you have not been vaccinated, you can take advantage of free, convenient vaccination appointments that are available on campus. For more information about COVID-19 vaccination at UIC/UI Health or to make an appointment, visit vaccine.uihealth.care.
  • If you have any questions about making a vaccine appointment, please covidvaccine@uic.edu.
  • You can find COVID-19 vaccination appointments or walk-in hours at a location near you by visiting vaccines.gov.

Reporting COVID-19 Symptoms and Travel Guidance Tool:

Students who will be traveling or who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, must use the COVID-19 reporting decision tool, regardless of vaccination status, if you have:

  • A positive COVID-19 test,
  • Exposure to an individual with known or suspected COVID-19,
  • If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms,
  • If you have plans to travel out-of-state or country; this includes personal travel and students or scholars returning to or arriving for the first time in Chicago from out-of-state or abroad. UIC contact tracing will provide you with pre- and post-travel counseling, including whether or not you need to quarantine and test. Should you need to quarantine and miss in-person classes, UIC does not require you to provide any documentation to your instructor. You will need to communicate your absence to your instructor for public health reasons.

Course Delivery and Participation:

In order to determine how your courses will be delivered this fall, students can view the instructional method (online asynchronous, online synchronous, hybrid, on campus, etc.) assigned to the course in the schedule of classes or in the my.UIC portal.  The following meeting time location guide provides instructions on how to determine the day and time, as well as the instructional method for your courses.

  • Students who are vaccinated and those who have obtained a COVID-19 vaccine exemption to attend in-person classes which include those designated as on-campus and hybrid are expected to attend class on campus.
  • Students with an approved accommodation may have the option to complete their coursework through synchronous or asynchronous online courses, or by streaming and/or watching recordings of in-person courses.
  • Due to the nature of some courses, students should be aware that not all courses can be streamed and/or recorded.
  • Some courses do require in-person participation. If enrolled in a course with a required in-person component, the student should immediately talk to their instructor about remaining in the course if they will not be on campus. Students may need to consider alternate course plans and may wish to consult their advisor about options for continuing with degree progression. For some academic programs, progression may not be possible without attending in person.

Support and Resources: 

AHS Advising and Student Resources:

We are fortunate to have a great team of academic advisors in the College of Applied Health Sciences to support your academic journey here at UIC.  As you finalize your course schedule, your advisor may be able to assist with adjusting your academic plan to best meet your individual needs.  You can most easily identify advising resources through the AHS Advising webpage and most undergraduates can schedule an appointment in iAdvise.

Academic Support and Achievement Program (ASAP):

Our ASAP center is located in room 356 of PEB, we hope you come and visit us! This AHS student hub provides several support resources for students including tutoring, academic support workshops, course materials for rental, and more. To learn more about these services and hours, please visit the ASAP website. Our ASAP center will open on Monday, August 23, and we have also transitioned many of our services to virtual offerings to accommodate all students.  Stay tuned for weekly updates through the AHS Connections newsletter that is distributed through our student listservs.

FAQs:

Other frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to our return to campus and vaccination requirements, can be found on the frequently asked questions webpage.

Quick Links:

Should you have questions about the above resources or guidelines, please feel free to contact the AHS Student Affairs team at ahsinfo@uic.edu.