Throughout the semester:
- Vaccinations are key to returning to normal operations. Converse University now requires all students, faculty, staff, and our Board of Trustees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This policy applies to all students, employees, and trustees who attend class, work, or engage in other activities at a Converse facility. This is our surest and quickest path toward a return to normal operations. Read more about the vaccine requirement here.
- You can submit your vaccination information via the secure Vaccination Portal. Converse has partnered with DHEC and Healthy Me Healthy SC to offer occasional on-campus vaccination clinics. The VAXLocator can be used to find many other local community partners offering the vaccine.
- All residential students are required to have an isolation and quarantine plan in place. All residential students must complete and submit an isolation and quarantine plan to my.converse.edu at this link. Dedicated on-campus isolation and quarantine housing will be reserved for those students who live greater than 6 hours away or have extenuating circumstances affecting their ability to isolate or quarantine off campus.
- Staying home if sick or having symptoms of COVID-19. Students or faculty who believe they may have had close contact with someone who is ill with COVID, or are exhibiting symptoms themselves, should seek advice from the Wellness Center on next steps.
- Developing backup plans to offer continued coursework. Flexible planning should be developed and communicated if in the event an instructor or student needs to remain at home due to being ill or because of quarantine or isolation guidance.
- Encouraging routine testing to stay in the know. Whether through a local provider or taking part in Converse’s on-campus offerings, routine testing continues to remain an important way of understanding your health status. Results should be submitted to the Proof of Test portal.
- Testing Protocol for the Unvaccinated: Converse students and employees who have not been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and those who have not shared with the University that they are fully vaccinated should be tested weekly for COVID-19, or until they upload proof of full vaccination. Testing is not required for the fully vaccinated unless one is having COVID-19 like symptoms or if one has come into close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated 1) two weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series (such as with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines); or 2) two weeks after a single-dose vaccine (such as Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen vaccine).
- Using the health screening tool to report symptoms and close contacts. This Daily Questionnaire should be completed by each student, faculty, and staff when they have COVID-19 like symptoms or need to report a recent close contact.
- Distancing of classroom and meeting spaces. Converse looks to maintain 6 feet of distancing where possible. Continue to follow the distancing requirements unless otherwise instructed.
- Use of masks that cover the nose and mouth. Converse is mask optional in most on-campus, indoor settings, now including within instructional spaces. Some exclusions still apply. Masks will still be required:
- In healthcare facilities including the Wellness Center and testing/vaccination sites;
- When students and employees are following Wellness Center protocols following close contact or an isolation/quarantine period;
- At some university events. Event organizers are responsible for communicating if an event requires masks of its guests.
While masks will be optional, anyone who would like to continue wearing masks in any setting is welcome to do so. Converse is a community that welcomes diversity of beliefs, and individuals should not be questioned about their decision to wear a mask nor discouraged or prohibited from wearing them.
Masks are not required indoors at non-instructional university facilities including the dining hall, residence halls, offices and when moving through other buildings on campus. Some university events may still require masks which will be communicated by event organizers.
Converse supports individuals who opt to wear a mask. Students, faculty and staff may pick up a N95 mask at either the Wellness Center or MEID desk in the Montgomery Student Center during normal operating hours. Converse does not require the use of the N95 or KN95 masks yet offers a limited supply for those in need.
Contact tracing
It is important that each student maintain an accurate phone number within My.Converse in the event they need to be contacted due to a possible exposure. Adherence to the recommendations of the Wellness Center and/or contact tracing team is essential to maintain a safe environment for all. Converse reserves the right to adapt these protocols if conditions or public health guidance changes to best serve and protect the students, faculty and others involved.
