That amendment to the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act is Orwellian and tyrannical in equal proportion. My (least) favorite part is its pretense that the amendment is merely a "declaration of existing law," as if bodily autonomy and informed consent to medical treatments had never existed.
Michigan State University right next to us still has its booster mandate in effect for Fall. Based on their dashboard, looks like 5-10% of students and faculty have been granted an exemption which is... higher than I would have guessed. Can't tell from the website if those folks are required to test regularly.
Incidentally, it occurs to me that one of the continuing absurdities here... MSU has reopened their dining halls and sporting events to the general public, vaccinated or not (in fact I ate at Brody Hall for lunch yesterday). But online-only students who have been granted a vaccine exemption by virtue of being online-only are forbidden from showing up on campus for any reason. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE of course you can't.
The University of Washington has a vaccine requirement; not sure offhand if boosters will be required for fall. Gov. Inslee has urged the state's colleges and universities to require them. The UW campus does still have "masks recommended" signs posted. I was over there last week in the evening. What looked like a gala party for donors was being held on the patio attached to the student union building (HUB). No distancing, no masks, and I doubt there was a vaccine requirement.
The fact that we still have such a high rate of unvaccinated people & the resistance to getting the vaccine is ridiculous. If you don’t want the vaccine, then don’t get it but don’t cry about the testing requirement if you make the choice to remain unvaccinated against a virus that has killed over 1,000,000 people in the U.S. alone in the last 2 years. Stop the whining already!
UIS is the Springfield campus of the UofI. Same system, board of trustees, president, etc. But a separate university. Three universities in the system - Urbana/Champaign flagship, Chicago, and Springfield.
Yep, that's Urbana/Champaign. Springfield has its own policies. Sometimes they are the same, sometimes not. The only place you can be sure that a policy applies to all three campuses is through the system websites, which are all "uillinois.edu".
Currently unvaccinated staff still test. But as someone who has an exemption for the booster, I haven't tested in months and haven't had a single communication about it. Springfield has confirmed in a "covid briefing" that the definition they are using is for the initial series. Check out all the briefings. I'm sure you will be entertained: https://www.uis.edu/uisunitedinsafety
Was this email correspondence between you and a rep from UI? I work at UI Urbana-Champaign, and since Governor Buttercow relaxed the jab/test mandates for higher education last week, we’ve (employees) received NO emails or other communication from campus administrators on this issue. They’ve not said if they’re rescinding their mandates, or keeping them going into the fall 2022 semester. Nothing either way. So, for the meantime, we just keep spitting, because the University is paying us for an hours’ worth of time during the work day to do so.
This is UIS specific and only for those who are "unvaccinated" or refused to comply with submitting records. Vaccinated staff were able to discontinue testing months ago at UIS. Initial vaccinated but not boosted staff were able to stop about a month ago (officially - I'm still employed and stopped before that, so... who is really keeping track?).
UIS no longer offers testing on campus, so the staff who must test must leave work to do so. UIS is small so this is truly a big burden on the staff who are being told to test as they must find somewhere else in town to do it.
Here's the same thing parroted by UIUC Chancellor Jones. Of course, both emails bloviate extensively about how all of the University's mitigation measures have kept everyone safe, and of course, continue to do so!
This is very interesting, Ellen. UIUC's policy has been to require jabs/boosters for all staff, and for those jab records to be recorded with the campus health clinic, and those that didn't get jabs/boosters, have been required to do the spit test once/week, all under threat of disciplinary action/possible termination if not compliant. For employees who are spit-testing, they pay us an hour of time each week for the test. In May, they closed all of the testing centers on campus except the one at the student union. Testing has still been required all summer for unjabbed staff. I assumed that this was policy UI System-wide, and that there were not separate policies for each campus (UIUC, UIS, UIC). So far, here at UIUC, there's been NO official response to the relaxed requirements from Governor Buttercow a few weeks ago. However, many employees have observed that most of the testing materials and supplies from the student union test site have been moved elsewhere to a storage facility.
As to your staff who are being made to test off campus and at their own expense, they should be resisting that to the fullest. If the campus is requiring testing, then they should be providing and paying for the tests, along with the employees' time to test.
100% agree. I believe that supervisors are being told to provide work time for people to go test and there are some "free" options (with insurance) in town. I'm not completely sure what people are doing as I haven't been told to do it, so I'm not. It was changed as of May 16 that any person with the initial vaccine series would be considered "vaccinated" and could discontinue testing. Per the email from the UIS Chancellor on May 10: "Removal of testing requirements for anyone with the initial vaccination series. Exempt/unvaccinated individuals must continue to test once per week until COVID-19 Executive Order 2021-22, Section 4, is lifted and the university confirms permission to end the testing requirement for this sub-group."
We received the same email from Killeen today and a follow up from our Chancellor with the same "initial series" requirement and encouraging a booster. No decision yet on masking. Keep sharing notes!
The inertia of bureaucracy is one thing, the inertia of stupid bureaucracy is quite another.
That amendment to the Healthcare Right of Conscience Act is Orwellian and tyrannical in equal proportion. My (least) favorite part is its pretense that the amendment is merely a "declaration of existing law," as if bodily autonomy and informed consent to medical treatments had never existed.
p.s. For those, like me, not familiar beforehand with the amendment and its history: The text of the amendment is on the penultimate screen/slide at https://www.awakeil.com/post/sb1169-amends-healthcare-right-of-conscience-act .
Michigan State University right next to us still has its booster mandate in effect for Fall. Based on their dashboard, looks like 5-10% of students and faculty have been granted an exemption which is... higher than I would have guessed. Can't tell from the website if those folks are required to test regularly.
Incidentally, it occurs to me that one of the continuing absurdities here... MSU has reopened their dining halls and sporting events to the general public, vaccinated or not (in fact I ate at Brody Hall for lunch yesterday). But online-only students who have been granted a vaccine exemption by virtue of being online-only are forbidden from showing up on campus for any reason. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE of course you can't.
Meanwhile, at Hillsdale College…
The University of Washington has a vaccine requirement; not sure offhand if boosters will be required for fall. Gov. Inslee has urged the state's colleges and universities to require them. The UW campus does still have "masks recommended" signs posted. I was over there last week in the evening. What looked like a gala party for donors was being held on the patio attached to the student union building (HUB). No distancing, no masks, and I doubt there was a vaccine requirement.
The fact that we still have such a high rate of unvaccinated people & the resistance to getting the vaccine is ridiculous. If you don’t want the vaccine, then don’t get it but don’t cry about the testing requirement if you make the choice to remain unvaccinated against a virus that has killed over 1,000,000 people in the U.S. alone in the last 2 years. Stop the whining already!
Welp... there is still TONS of money to be made in testing and shots. WHY STOP NOW???🙄🙄🙄
UIS is the Springfield campus of the UofI. Same system, board of trustees, president, etc. But a separate university. Three universities in the system - Urbana/Champaign flagship, Chicago, and Springfield.
Per current policy, all students, staff and faculty that are unboosted and don't have approved medical/religious exemptions must test weekly.
https://covid19.illinois.edu/vaccines-for-covid-19/
Yep, that's Urbana/Champaign. Springfield has its own policies. Sometimes they are the same, sometimes not. The only place you can be sure that a policy applies to all three campuses is through the system websites, which are all "uillinois.edu".
Currently unvaccinated staff still test. But as someone who has an exemption for the booster, I haven't tested in months and haven't had a single communication about it. Springfield has confirmed in a "covid briefing" that the definition they are using is for the initial series. Check out all the briefings. I'm sure you will be entertained: https://www.uis.edu/uisunitedinsafety
Was this email correspondence between you and a rep from UI? I work at UI Urbana-Champaign, and since Governor Buttercow relaxed the jab/test mandates for higher education last week, we’ve (employees) received NO emails or other communication from campus administrators on this issue. They’ve not said if they’re rescinding their mandates, or keeping them going into the fall 2022 semester. Nothing either way. So, for the meantime, we just keep spitting, because the University is paying us for an hours’ worth of time during the work day to do so.
No, this was an email sent to me by a U of I employee.
This is UIS specific and only for those who are "unvaccinated" or refused to comply with submitting records. Vaccinated staff were able to discontinue testing months ago at UIS. Initial vaccinated but not boosted staff were able to stop about a month ago (officially - I'm still employed and stopped before that, so... who is really keeping track?).
UIS no longer offers testing on campus, so the staff who must test must leave work to do so. UIS is small so this is truly a big burden on the staff who are being told to test as they must find somewhere else in town to do it.
Hot off the press from UI System President Killeen. According to this email, jab/testing mandates are still in effect at three UI campuses.
https://massmail.illinois.edu/massmail/940505443.html
Here's the same thing parroted by UIUC Chancellor Jones. Of course, both emails bloviate extensively about how all of the University's mitigation measures have kept everyone safe, and of course, continue to do so!
https://massmail.illinois.edu/massmail/944870250.html
This is very interesting, Ellen. UIUC's policy has been to require jabs/boosters for all staff, and for those jab records to be recorded with the campus health clinic, and those that didn't get jabs/boosters, have been required to do the spit test once/week, all under threat of disciplinary action/possible termination if not compliant. For employees who are spit-testing, they pay us an hour of time each week for the test. In May, they closed all of the testing centers on campus except the one at the student union. Testing has still been required all summer for unjabbed staff. I assumed that this was policy UI System-wide, and that there were not separate policies for each campus (UIUC, UIS, UIC). So far, here at UIUC, there's been NO official response to the relaxed requirements from Governor Buttercow a few weeks ago. However, many employees have observed that most of the testing materials and supplies from the student union test site have been moved elsewhere to a storage facility.
As to your staff who are being made to test off campus and at their own expense, they should be resisting that to the fullest. If the campus is requiring testing, then they should be providing and paying for the tests, along with the employees' time to test.
100% agree. I believe that supervisors are being told to provide work time for people to go test and there are some "free" options (with insurance) in town. I'm not completely sure what people are doing as I haven't been told to do it, so I'm not. It was changed as of May 16 that any person with the initial vaccine series would be considered "vaccinated" and could discontinue testing. Per the email from the UIS Chancellor on May 10: "Removal of testing requirements for anyone with the initial vaccination series. Exempt/unvaccinated individuals must continue to test once per week until COVID-19 Executive Order 2021-22, Section 4, is lifted and the university confirms permission to end the testing requirement for this sub-group."
We received the same email from Killeen today and a follow up from our Chancellor with the same "initial series" requirement and encouraging a booster. No decision yet on masking. Keep sharing notes!