Dear Members of the TC Community,

It has been wonderful to see lots of familiar faces on campus this week. As we welcome new and returning students, faculty and staff back to TC in the coming weeks, we write with several important reminders about the College’s health and safety protocols.

Campus Access Requirements

To help facilitate your return to campus, we have created checklists for studentsfaculty and staffsupervisors and housing affiliates to guide you through campus access requirements and health and safety protocols. Campus access requirements are summarized as follows:

TC COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement
Thank you to the more than 4,000 of you who have now uploaded your proof of vaccination; you have helped take a critical step toward ensuring a safe return to campus this fall, and we look forward to seeing this number continue to climb. 

If you have not already done so, please submit your proof of full vaccination or a request for a religious or medical exemption as soon as possible. As a reminder, in adherence to TC’s vaccination requirement for all new and returning students, staff, faculty and TC housing affiliates, you will not be able to access campus after August 16 until you have submitted proof of full vaccination, or received a medical or religious exemption. 

Please submit your form or request at least 10 working days prior to the date on which you need to access campus in order to ensure adequate time for the College to process submissions.

PCR COVID-19 Gateway Test
All studentsfaculty, staff and housing affiliates returning to campus for the first time since May 17 are required to take a PCR COVID-19 gateway test and submit a negative test result for campus access. If you have not accessed campus since May 17, your PCR test must be administered within 14 days of your return to campus. If you have submitted a PCR test and accessed campus since May 17, you do not need to submit another one for the fall semester.

Community Health and Safety Training
Please complete TC’s mandatory Community Health and Safety Training if you have not completed it already. Please find the training for students here, and the training for faculty and staff here.

Daily Health Screening  
Each day before your arrival to campus, all students, faculty, staff, housing affiliates and visitors must complete TC’s Daily Health Screening. Install the myTC App on your phone for easy access to the Daily Health Screening.
 

Other Campus Health and Safety Policies 

Face Coverings Requirements  
Teachers College will continue to require that all individuals wear a face covering in almost all indoor settings on campus regardless of vaccination status for the Fall semester. Please learn about TC’s face covering requirements here.


Events Guidance
The College will prioritize events for the internal TC community for the new academic year. Internal events for new students can begin as of Wednesday, September 15, 2021; all other events can begin on Friday, October 1, 2021. External meetings & events will be limited in size and number. Please read the College’s full Events Policy.

Visitors Policy

As outlined in the College’s Visitors Policy shared earlier this week, Public Safety must be notified of all visitors at least 48 hours before their intended arrival, through the completion of the visitor registration form emailed to officeofpublicsafety@tc.columbia.edu. Visitors must complete the Daily Health Screening prior to their arrival on campus in order to gain entry. Visitors who will be on campus for less than four days must provide either proof of vaccination or a negative PCR COVID test dated within seven days of the visit. Visitors who will be on campus for more than four days must provide proof of vaccination.

Town Halls 
We will hold our third Town Hall for faculty and staff on Tuesday, August 17, from 1:00-2:00 pm ET to share updates and answer your questions about returning to campus. A Town Hall for students will take place on Tuesday, August 24, from 6:00-7:00 pm ET. We look forward to seeing you there.

As we plan for our full return to campus, our policies will continue to be informed by national, state, and city public health guidelines, and in ongoing consultation with our Columbia colleagues and public health officials. We will continue to carefully monitor the public health situation in New York City and on our campus, and will evaluate and adjust our health and safety protocols and requirements as needed.  

We thank you all again for your continued compliance, cooperation, and patience as we navigate our return to campus together. And we look forward to seeing you all soon!

Sincerely,

Lisa Seales
Vice President for Administration 
Co-Chair, COVID-19 Working Group
 
Hank Perkowski
Vice President for Finance and Operations 
Co-Chair, COVID-19 Working Group