COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement Compliance

Dear faculty and staff,

Thank you to those who have contributed to creating a safe campus environment by following the appropriate mitigation measures, including vaccination, against COVID-19. The positive response by the vast majority of our academic community allows us to maintain low positivity rates and to successfully deliver face-to-face instruction for the benefit of our students. Unfortunately, a small share—less than 3%—of our employees are not contributing to these efforts and they are not in compliance with our safety protocols.

Vaccination Disclosure and Saliva Testing

As detailed in the message sent to all employees on August 19, 2021, and the UIC Employee COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, all employees were required to disclose their vaccination status via UIC Healthcheck by August 23, 2021. All unvaccinated employees who come to campus, including those with an approved medical or religious exemption, and those who are partially vaccinated, are required to obtain a COVID-19 saliva test on-campus twice per 7-day period, 48 or more hours apart with negative test results, and to comply with other mitigation measures. The University’s policy also requires that all employees be fully vaccinated or have a documented medical or religious exemption by October 1, 2021. Employees of UI Health must comply with the specific, but similar, guidelines issued by the Hospital. Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order, requires a similar vaccination and testing protocol for all higher education personnel in the State of Illinois who are on campus on a regular basis and in close contact with others.

Non-Disclosure and Disciplinary Action

Employees who have not disclosed their vaccination status or are unvaccinated and non-compliant with the saliva testing requirements and/or other mitigation measures are subject to disciplinary action as set forth in the Employee COVID Vaccination Policy. Progressive disciplinary steps in these cases should be initiated IMMEDIATELY by the employee’s supervisor, if not already in process.

Unvaccinated employees without an approved medical or religious exemption will be excluded from the campus on October 1, 2021, consistent with the University policy. In addition, any employees who fail to comply with the saliva testing requirements, will also be excluded from campus on September 15, 2021. Exclusion from campus will be followed by appropriate disciplinary action in both cases.

As stated repeatedly, our goal is to protect the health and safety of our community, while we continue to advance the mission of our University. We are very proud and encouraged by the strong positive response of our students, faculty and staff and the compliance of the vast majority with the safety requirements and protocols. And we remain hopeful that those not in compliance will follow the University’s COVID-19 protocol to avoid disciplinary action.

Sincerely,

Michael Amiridis
Chancellor

Javier Reyes
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Robert Barish, MD, MBA
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs