August 16, 2022: COVID-19 Compliance Requirements

Dear HR Network and Senior Business Officers:

As you may have seen in the COVID-19 fall policy email that was distributed yesterday, the vaccination and booster requirements remain in place for the University. This applies to all faculty and staff, regardless of work location. Below is a reminder of the current COVID-19 compliance requirements.

It is important to keep in mind that being up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations—having the recommended booster doses in addition to the primary series, not only provides protection against new virus variants for the vaccinated individual, but also decreases circulating virus, thus protecting others in the community.

Primary Series Vaccination

The primary series of the COVID-19 vaccines is required for all faculty and staff, unless a formal medical or religious exemption is granted. The ReopenCU app remains the tool used for individuals to upload their documentation. The checklist on the app (and the corresponding red/green pass) shows an individual whether or not their documentation has been uploaded. Individuals who fail to provide documentation on their primary vaccine series, or have a formal medical or religious exemption granted by the University may not be on campus for any reason, and may be subject to additional disciplinary action.

COVID-19 Booster Requirement

Originally announced on December 16, 2021, the booster requirement for all faculty and staff has not changed. In late spring, the decision was made to extend the deadline for submitting booster documentation, and the University announced that it would revisit policies regarding booster enforcement for faculty and staff in late summer. Additional information on booster compliance, including information on booster vaccination locations in New York can be found on the COVID-19 website.

The University continues to evaluate the next steps regarding enforcement of the booster requirement. Please remind your faculty and staff that it is required and remind them that if they have not already uploaded their booster documentation, to please do so as soon as possible. More information will be provided later in the semester regarding enforcement and exemptions.

An individual who has a medical or religious exemption from the primary series has that exemption automatically extended to their booster requirement. They should not submit any additional information unless requested to do so by Leave Management.

University Compact

The University compact will be updated for Fall 2022. Anyone who has already signed the compact will not need to sign the revised version. However, new hires, and anyone who may have never signed the compact will need to do so via the ReopenCU app.

Training and Testing

As announced last May, the University-mandated COVID-19 training, and gateway/surveillance testing are no longer required. However, individual schools and departments may choose to provide COVID-19 information in their new hire materials or to current employees as they choose.

How to Monitor Compliance

The Department ReopenCU Compliance report is still available under Reports > HR Manager Reports on my.Columbia. The report includes the vaccine, booster and compact compliance information for everyone in your school/admin department. If you have questions about how to access the report, please review the Department ReopenCU Compliance Report Job Aid. Please continue to use this report to monitor compliance for your department and reach out to any individuals who have not yet met the primary vaccination requirement, or the booster requirement.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership.

Dan Driscoll
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Columbia University