Updates on TU response to COVID-19

December 29, 2021

The following message is being sent on behalf of the COVID Response Leadership Team:

Dear Towson University students, faculty & staff —

As we prepare to return from winter break and start the New Year, the university continues to monitor the increase of COVID-19 cases in Baltimore County and across Maryland. We continue to consult University System of Maryland (USM) medical and public health experts, USM staff, our sister USM institutions, as well as TU’s medical advisory committee.

In response to an increase in positive cases around the region and state, TU is taking the following steps:

• The university will reopen as planned on Monday, Jan. 3 following the holiday break. As announced prior to the break, telework is strongly encouraged for those who are able to do so from Monday, Jan. 3 through Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. Supervisors should reach out to their employees to confirm and coordinate telework within their departments. While telework is strongly encouraged, those employees that are essential to campus operations or whose duties cannot be effectively performed via telework should report to campus. Employees that are unsure about whether they are to report to campus should contact their supervisor to confirm your status. Please note this request also includes student staff. Again the university will reopen as planned on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. 

• The university will require a negative COVID test result for all students, faculty and staff coming to campus starting Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. More information on that requirement as well as the reporting of those negative test results will be shared in the next week. 
• Essential employees — who were required to work a regularly-scheduled week during the holiday break, or who are required to work on campus during the first week in January — will have access to testing at the West Village Test Center between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from Monday, Jan. 3 through Thursday, Jan. 6. 

• Masks, covering the nose and mouth completely, continue to be required when indoors in any buildings on TU’s campus. KN95 masks are strongly recommended and are available at multiple locations across campus.

• We continue to strongly advise boosters for all students, faculty and staff—and encourage anyone who hasn’t gotten one yet to do so before returning in January. While TU has not announced plans to require boosters for those coming to campus, it is possible that they will be required prior to spring semester for those eligible. TU will continue to offer booster opportunities through university communications. Baltimore County is offering booster opportunities at select locations today (White Marsh) and Thursday (Dundalk), with more details available atwww.baltimorecountymd.gov/vaccine.  

• TU announced before winter break that all TU-hosted events with more than 750 attendees planned would be limited to 50 percent capacity through Dec. 31.That restriction is now extended to Jan. 15, 2022.

• Food and beverages for all indoor events on campus through Jan. 15 will be discontinued. Dining facilities on campus are now offering grab-and-go carryout options only. 

These common-sense measures are being taken to allow us to continue planning for an in-person spring term including a full offering of campus life starting on Jan. 31, 2022.

The winter minimester begins Jan. 3, with the vast majority of classes already scheduled to be administered online. In-person classes have shifted to larger classrooms to allow requisite physical distancing.

 

Residential student move-in will commence as planned on Saturday, Jan. 29 to support the spring term that begins on Jan. 31. 

 

Thank you for your continued support of our community and for showing how much Tigers Care. 

 

Sincerely, 

Melanie Perreault, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Vernon Hurte, Ph.D.

Vice President for Student Affairs

Steve Jones

Chief Human Resources Officer and Vice President for Operations