By Ian Krietzberg
Managing Editor
Indoor face coverings will be required for everyone on campus regardless of vaccination status amid rising Delta variant concerns, President Foster announced in a campus-wide email Thursday morning.
"Accordingly, effective Monday, August 16, 2021, TCNJ requires all persons on campus, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask while indoors."
This does not apply to students in residence halls, Foster noted in her email.
“In addition,” Foster added, “any in-person mandates for one-on-one or small-group meetings, such as counseling, advising, office hours, or mentoring sessions, are hereby relaxed to allow such meetings to occur via Zoom or other medium when requested by a participant.”
Despite the rising levels of the Delta variant throughout the country and state, classes will remain in-person, with the Academic Affairs Readiness Task Force providing guidance to faculty on how best to “navigate” instruction while this indoor mask mandate remains in effect.
In addition, and effective on August 30, 2021, unvaccinated students and employees who come to campus will now be required to take a Covid-19 test twice weekly.
“Let me emphasize that the enhanced masking requirement and other measures are temporary. We will continually monitor case metrics and will amend these new restrictions once case numbers and transmissibility fall to safer levels,” Foster said. “We are heartened by data from Europe and other U.S. states that show rapid declines in case rates after a spike. We hope that this is our experience as well and that the campus community will live, work, and learn on campus this fall semester as originally planned.”
