Campus Announcements

July 8, 2021 

To York College Students:  

It is hard to believe that we will be welcoming you to campus in a few weeks. Like you, I am looking forward to a more “typical” York College experience commencing this August when  students return.  

With the recent decrease in COVID-19 cases and the lifting of mandates in our state, we are able to step back some of last year’s mitigation practices here on campus. We are relaxing our  social distancing requirements and the wearing of facemasks outdoors. However, the pandemic has not been eradicated, and more transmissible variants pose a greater risk to those  in our community who are unvaccinated. As a result, the wearing of facemasks inside campus buildings will continue to be required until further notice. This mandate will be lifted if and  when we reach a 70% vaccination rate among our campus community (including faculty,  staff, and students). 

We strongly encourage students to be vaccinated and are developing an incentive program for  those vaccinated or unvaccinated students who participate. Unvaccinated students will be  required to participate in our mandatory random surveillance testing and to quarantine if they  are a close contact to someone who has COVID-19. Fully vaccinated students will be exempt  from both of these requirements.  

You will find COVID-related information about the plan for your return for the Fall 2021  semester at www.ycp.edu/coronavirus. This site will be updated regularly, including when and  if we need to make adjustments in our plan based on recommendations from national and  state agencies and our campus COVID positivity status. For COVID-related questions or  information, reach out to the COVID Call Center at 717-815-1900 or covidquestions@ycp.edu.  

Student will receive Information on campus housing and the move-in process shortly. Questions on these topics may be directed to residencelife@ycp.edu.  

Several important items require your attention as you make plans for your return to campus: 

1. Students who are fully vaccinated will be required to provide proof of vaccination status before they return. We will require students to upload proof of full vaccination starting on July 16; the URL to a form will be provided soon. (This form will be open  throughout the semester for updates). 
2. Unvaccinated students must provide a negative COVID-19 test dated no more than 3 days prior to their return. We will collect COVID-19 test results beginning on August 8; the URL to a form will be provided soon. (Students interested in getting a vaccination on  campus through WellSpan should indicate so here.) 
3. Remote learning opportunities for COVID-19 will only be considered in two cases: 1) Student is allergic to the COVID-19 vaccine; or 2) Student is allergic to a component of the COVID-19 vaccine. Remote learning applications may be submitted beginning on  July 31; the URL to an application form will be provided soon. 

Like you, I am looking forward to those experiences that we all missed last year, especially in person events including student organization meetings, athletic competitions, and Campus  Activity Board activities. However, in order to hold these events in-person, we must continue to  be diligent and take the necessary steps to keep our campus community informed and healthy.  I look forward to seeing you in August. Thank you for doing your part to keep York College  headed in the right direction.  

Now, let’s reach that 70% fully vaccinated campus milestone! #ITSWORTHASHOT 

Sincerely,  

Pamela Gunter-Smith, Ph.D.