GVSU health and safety plan update

A message from President Philomena V. Mantella sent to the campus community September 29, 2021:

Dear Campus Community,

We are pleased to report the Laker health and safety plan for Fall semester continues to be successful. More than 90 percent of our faculty and staff and nearly 87 percent of students are in compliance with our vaccination policy. This means they are vaccinated, have a religious or medical exemption or a postponement. This wide acceptance has been key in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and keeping the number of cases low on our campuses. All of us must continue to be vigilant in maintaining healthy practices and wear face coverings while indoors, so we can keep each other safe. We should all be pleased that GVSU’s positivity rate is significantly lower than that of the communities that surround our campuses.

As our September 30 vaccine requirement deadline approaches, we continue to evaluate and record compliances; process remaining requests for exemptions, appeals or postponements; and review recent state legislation. If you have not reported your vaccination status on your self-assessment or applied for an exemption or postponement, you must do so in the next few days to be in compliance with the vaccination requirement for faculty, staff and students. Please avoid disruptions and act now. 

We will provide a status report to the campus community next week, along with any updates to our policies, deadlines and enforcement plans. Please keep up to date by checking the FAQ’s on Lakers Together. 

We have made enormous progress, and I am grateful to each of you for your care for each other. Let’s continue working together as Lakers.

 Sincerely,

Philomena V. Mantella, President