Welcome back! Here’s what to expect on campus
by Tim Edwards, Director of Environmental Health & Safety, Risk Management Services & Emergency Management |
Welcome back, Seawolves! I hope you had a relaxing and fun Spring Break.
Now that you’re back on campus, I want to remind you about our new mask policy. Masks
are now optional inside all UAA facilities at all UAA campuses. This includes classrooms,
residential buildings, offices, cubicles, in campus vehicles with others, outside
and at university-sponsored activities. Masks must continue to be worn at the Student
Health and Counseling Center and inside the Sports Medicine Room in the Alaska Airlines
Center. Those who feel more comfortable wearing a mask should continue to do so; those
who prefer not to wear a mask should feel comfortable with that choice, and everyone
should respect those decisions.
This loosening of our masking policy went into effect March 7 and follows guidance
for masking from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In addition to making masks optional, UAA is adjusting its policies for quarantine
and isolation.
Quarantine if you have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 unless you are up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations or were COVID-19 positive in the last
90 days. If you are up to date with your vaccinations and have been in close contact
with someone who has COVID-19, wear a mask around others for 10 days following exposure
and get tested at least five days after exposure. If you are not up to date on vaccinations,
stay home and quarantine for at least five full days after exposure. Read more.
For students living in UAA’s residence halls, please see updated quarantine and isolation policies pertaining to you.
If you have a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19, isolating helps prevent infection of others around you. If you test positive for COVID-19 or
have symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, stay home for at least five days
and isolate yourself from others. After five days, when you are fever-free (without
the use of fever-reducing medication) and when other symptoms improve, you may end
isolation. Read more.
We no longer require those in the UAA community to contact Environmental Health &
Safety and Risk Management if they test positive for COVID-19. However, if you have
a question or need advice, call 907-786-1300 or email EHSRM.
Please continue to keep six feet of distance where reasonably possible, and if you
have symptoms of sickness, work or participate remotely. Use the Exposure Notification tool on your smartphone to combat COVID. Should any of our campus communities move into
the high category as defined by the CDC, we anticipate reinstituting the mask requirement
or otherwise moving to mitigate the public health risk.
Let’s be safe and support one another as we resume classes, instruction and work
this spring semester.
Sincerely,
Tim Edwards
Director of Environmental Health & Safety, Risk Management Services & Emergency Management
"Welcome back! Here’s what to expect on campus" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.