State of Emergency and Vaccination Update 10/28/22

Dear Campus Community,

On Monday, October 31, the Governor’s emergency proclamation for COVID-19, as well as the proclamation for higher education, expire. I would like to share with you the changes Shoreline Community College will make in response.

First, I want to acknowledge that COVID-19 remains a concern for many members of the College community. I understand that not everyone is ready, or completely comfortable yet, with returning to a pre-pandemic environment. We want to work with everyone to continue to transition back to campus in a way that is both respectful of that, and attentive to the mission of the College and the need to serve who is here, and who should be here. More detail to come about this in a memo next week. 

To ensure the College made thoughtful decisions about vaccine requirements after October 31, we intentionally sought the input of the Communicable Disease Team (CDT), which includes representatives from all College constituent groups. We also conducted surveys across campus and in the community requesting feedback on potentially lifting the vaccine attestation for students.

The Executive Team then reviewed feedback from the CDT, responses received from the survey, other regional colleges’ plans moving forward, and current guidelines from health agencies before finally discussing the current vaccine policies with the Board of Trustees on October 26.

What we found is that most industries in our community do not have vaccination requirements currently, except in healthcare facilities. Within higher education institutions, while most community colleges are not pursuing the continuation of vaccination requirements, the University of Washington does plan to keep the vaccine requirement in place. Within survey feedback, we found some individuals remain concerned about the impact of requiring vaccinations for students on enrollment, and how the vaccine requirement impacts our role in supporting the community overall. Feedback from constituency groups at Shoreline does not indicate a clear consensus within groups related to continuing the required vaccinations. Where there is clear consensus amongst the College constituencies is on the desire to maintain preventative safety and sanitation practices that were implemented during the pandemic.

Because we are no longer in a state of emergency, most industries are not requiring vaccines, and the risk of Covid transmission is low in the region and there is no clear consensus on campus for continuing vaccination requirements, the College will not be pursuing vaccine requirements at this time.

Based on the information above, below please find a summary of what is changing and what will remain in place effective November 1.

What will Change

• 1007 Vaccinated Campus Policy will sunset effective end of day on October 31, 2022.
• Effective November 1, 2022, forward the College will:
  • No longer require students and employees to be vaccinated to be on campus.
  • No longer continue to request vaccine attestation from students or employees.
  • No longer place a hold on student accounts for not providing attestation verification.

What will Remain

• Shoreline Community College will continue to:
  • Provide a weekly COVID-19 update via the all-staff memo.
  • Update the College COVID-19 webpage with up-to-date and current information.
  • Promote health practices overall throughout the campus.
  • Support independent choices on mask wearing.
  • Encourage vaccinations and boosters.
  • Provide masks throughout the campus.
  • Provide hand sanitizers throughout the campus and wipes upon request.
  • Maintain the air filtration systems put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Follow guidance from Labor & Industry (L&I).
  • Support remote work as a reasonable accommodation for HR-approved employees.
  • Respond promptly and effectively to local, state, and federal public health directives should there be a resurgence of the virus and need to pivot this strategy.
  • Monitor COVID data in the event additional health and safety measures are needed.
  • Communicate and work with the Board of Trustees in the December 2022 Board of Trustees board meeting to discuss the possibility of bringing back a vaccination policy.
  • Work with the Associated Student Government along with the president and the Board of Trustees, if the desire to pursue a vaccination policy exists.

We are aware that other colleges, and other state agencies, maybe adopting policies and protocols different than Shoreline’s. Based on what we have heard from the campus community, and from our Trustees, we believe the decision to recommend but not require vaccinations is the right one for our faculty, staff, and students at this time.

Thank you.

Jack S. Kahn Ph.D.

President