As the upcoming semester gears up, questions have been circling over the current rise in COVID cases across the state and postponements of in-person learning for other area universities. Lipscomb notified students and faculty via email on Tuesday morning that the university will welcome back students for in-person learning as previously planned.
“We continue to believe that it will take every member of the Bison Herd doing their part to ensure we can have a productive and engaging semester,” said Dr. Matt Paden, executive vice president, in his email to students.
“An effective way to mitigate the spread of the virus is to wear a mask.”
Lipscomb is “temporarily” reinstating the indoor mask mandate for students, faculty and guests regardless of vaccination status. Masks will be required indoors through Jan. 21. Lipscomb has since updated the policy and extended the mask mandate to Jan. 31.
“The CDC, as well as state and local health officials, recommend wearing an N95 or KN95 mask if possible,” Paden said. “These masks provide the greatest protection of everyone against the virus. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as appropriate.”
Vaccinations are additionally being encouraged by the university. Free COVID vaccine and booster drives are scheduled to take place this semester on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m. in Bennett Campus Center.
University faculty (including student workers) are “currently required to comply” with the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) federal vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more employees.
This means, before Jan. 10, Lipscomb employees will be required to receive the COVID vaccine to adhere to federal guidelines.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has since decided to hold oral hearings this Friday (Jan. 7) on the enforceability of this mandate. Unless the Court holds that the OSHA ETS is unconstitutional or unenforceable, Lipscomb and its employees will be subject to the rule’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” said Lipscomb’s OSHA Task Force Team in an email to student workers.
“Time is running out to meet this deadline. We strongly encourage all employees who are not fully vaccinated to consider getting vaccinated as soon as practicable prior to next Monday.”
Pending litigation, OSHA currently states it will not issue citations to employers “exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard” until Feb. 9.