COVID-19 SAFETY GUIDELINES

August 15, 2022

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

We are excited to welcome you to another Academic Year!

To ensure a safe and healthy environment on campus, we reviewed HUC’s current COVID-19 guidelines, taking into consideration the most recent CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and local COVID-19 guidance, local community statistics, and advice from Dr. Ed Septimus, an epidemiologist, and a member of our Central Region Board of Advisors.

Given the increase in COVID-19 Community Levels to “High” in all stateside campus cities and the associated guidance from CDC, all visitors, students, faculty, and staff will be expected to adhere to the following COVID-19 guidelines below.

Mask Mandate

• Face masks are required to be worn at all times when indoors except in the following situations:
  • When alone in an enclosed office;
  • When eating; and
  • For service leaders, musicians, and professors – the choice to remove their masks when leading a service or teaching a class.
• Per CDC guidance, acceptable masks include 3-ply surgical, N95, or KN95 masks.

Vaccine and Booster Mandate

• HUC will continue to require proof of vaccine and first booster for everyone on campus including visitors. Proof of a second booster is not required.
• Applications for an exception can be obtained from Human Resources for faculty and staff and from the Office of Student Support for students.
• Only those individuals who have submitted proof of full vaccination or have received an approved exemption will be permitted on campus.

General Information

• Everyone coming to campus should self-check for COVID-19 symptoms before arriving on campus.
• If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, do not come to campus and we recommend you take a COVID-19 test.
• The incubation period for COVID-19 is believed to be 3 to 5 days. If you are aware that you have been exposed to COVID-19, even if you do not have symptoms, we recommend you take a COVID-19 test 3 days after the exposure and again 5 days after the exposure.

Reporting and Contact Tracing

• Any employees or students that were on campus within 48 hours prior to the start of COVID-19 symptoms and who test positive for COVID-19 are required to notify the designated point of contact person on their campus as soon as reasonably possible.
• The Designated Contact Person will request a list of individuals that the person had close contact within 48 hours prior to developing symptoms and/or testing positive. A notification will be sent to those individuals on the exposure list.
• No names or medical information will be disclosed during, before, or after notification.

Quarantine and Isolation

If you test positive for COVID-19:

• Notify your campus contact person.
• Isolate for at least 5 days after you test positive. DO NOT COME TO CAMPUS.
• You may end isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and your symptoms are improving.
• A well-fitting mask must be worn for at least an additional 5 full days after isolation ends when around others.

Exposure for Those Vaccinated and Boosted

• You do not need to quarantine unless you develop symptoms.
• You should get tested between 3 and 5 days after you have had close contact with someone with COVID-19 even if you don’t develop symptoms.
• If you develop symptoms, immediately quarantine, get tested, and notify the designated contact person.

Please note that the above is an overview of HUC-JIR’s COVID-19 guidelines and it is the expectation that all COVID-19 guidelines will be reviewed by clicking here. Students, faculty, and staff are expected to know and comply with these procedures and guidelines at all times, including compliance with any updates that may occur in the future.

We will continue to monitor local conditions closely.  These guidelines are subject to revision based on COVID-19 statistics in each of our communities and new information that may become available. Furthermore, HUC-JIR reserves the right to make adjustments to guidelines for each campus, based on local requirements and changes to local statistics.

If you are a student and have questions or concerns, please contact the Director of Student Support, Rabbi Andrew Goodman, at agoodman@huc.edu. Employees should contact Global HR Director, Nicole Jones at njones@huc.edu  with any questions.

We look forward to a safe, healthy, and successful academic year!

Sincerely,

Nicole Jones, MBA, SHRMP-CP (she/her)
Global Director of Human Resources &
Title IX Coordinator
3101 Clifton, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
njones@huc.edu | 513-487-3215 (office)