December 21st, 2021
We want to thank you for your commitment to keeping our community safe. We were able to enjoy a vibrant Fall semester with relatively low COVID-19 case numbers in large part due to your hard work and diligence in following University safety protocols – including vaccinations, masking, and weekly testing, among other initiatives.
With positive COVID-19 case numbers trending upward across the nation and projections for higher infection rates in January, Simmons is taking additional precautionary measures to keep our residential community safe – including instituting a testing requirement prior to your return to campus for the spring semester.
We plan to reopen the Residence Halls on January 15, 2022 at 9am.
Instructions for uploading your results to CoVerfied. If you receive a positive result, you must contact the Health Center to make them aware of your status and complete your isolation period at home.
Pre-arrival testing can be completed on campus through January 10-14. For example, if you plan to arrive on January 15 at 9am, the earliest you can test is January 12 at 9am to be within the required 72 hour window.
Please note: Residents will not be able to move-in early during this time, but they can come to campus to complete a test.
If you have not submitted your pre-arrival test results within 72 hours of the date you arrive on campus and you live within 200 miles, you will be asked to return home. If you live further than 200 miles, you will quarantine on campus until you receive a negative test result from the Simmons COVID-19 testing site.
January 15 -17: Saturday 9am – 5pm; Sunday 9am – 5pm; Monday 9am – 5pm
January 18 (Regular Testing Site Hours Resume): Monday – Thursday 9am – 6pm; Friday 9am-5pm
Check-in through the Simmons Hall access point to the Residence Campus. Residents who have completed the above requirements, will be granted access to the residence halls. Residents must present a receipt from the Simmons COVID-19 testing site confirming they have completed their required day of arrival test when checking into the residence halls.
Check-in hours will be 9am-5pm Saturday, January 15 – Monday, January 17.
Residents seeking an exception to these hours, should contact the Office of Residence Life at [email protected].
Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to permit friends and family to be on campus to help residents move-in. There will be one gate staffed by Residence Life and Public Safety where residents can receive extra belongings from friends and family, who pull up their cars on Pilgrim Road and drop items off curbside for resident pickup.
Please note: Residents arriving Tuesday or afterward must check in through the Office of Residence Life, located on the Residence Campus on the second floor of the Health Center building, between the hours of 9:30am-5:30pm Tuesday – Friday.
Simmons is requiring a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for all campus-based undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled on our campus during the spring semester. The requirement does not apply to individuals previously granted a religious or medical COVID-19 vaccine exemption.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a booster for all individuals eighteen and older, and the extra protection is even more important given the rise of the Omicron and other variants. Our campus-based community members should get their COVID-19 booster by January 18, 2022, or 14 days after they become eligible for the booster. Individuals become eligible for a booster six months after their second Pfizer or Moderna dose, and two months after the single Johnson & Johnson vaccine dose.
Please submit questions to [email protected] and read the booster-related FAQs.
As you know, COVID-19 cases across the country have risen dramatically over the past few weeks, and we want to reiterate the importance of taking the necessary steps to help prevent the spread of the virus. While we do not anticipate any University-wide closures in the coming months, we continue to develop contingency plans for COVID-19 possibilities that might arise. Please continue to check your email throughout the break for any updates.
