The rate at which COVID-19 cases are occurring, the need to regain normality is ushered in with the push for vaccinations. Photo by Nova Blanco-Rico
By: Nova Blanco-Rico, Managing Editor and Chaz Kawamura, Senior Editor
CSUDH’s self-certification requirement for students and workers resulted in 84% of students and 85% of employees showing proof of vaccination to be able to attend the university in person.
Statistics of self-certification?
Over the past month since the self-certification deadline, there has been a total of 10 COVID-19 cases at CSUDH. Along with that, 94% of students and employees that self-certify are also vaccinated.
The remaining students have not been vaccinated due to religious exemptions or medical conditions preventing them from getting the vaccine. These individuals must take weekly tests to attend the university in person. This will be enforced by the campus via the database that includes all people that are self-certified.
Why was Self-Certification a requirement?
The certification was not exclusive to CSUDH, but it was a CSU system-wide requirement that was announced in July, early this year. The purpose is to limit the possibilities of cases of the COVID-19 virus within universities.
As cases of COVID-19 fluctuate in the U.S., the need for implementation of safety protocols in ways of life grows as crucial as ever.
As stated by CSU, universities faculty, staff, and students arriving on all CSU campuses are required to be vaccinated or have a medical or religious exemption.
What are the consequences for not meeting the requirement for students and workers?
- Financial aid may be affected or reduced.
- Students may not be able to take in-person courses online and your expected graduation date may be affected.
- Prohibited from coming to campus and on-campus services and events.
- Students will also be given a hold on their accounts
But just as students, Employees are not exempt from following these mandates. Those working on school grounds are required to be vaccinated to work at the university. If employees do not comply with the policy, they will be denied access to campus and their employment may be terminated.
How was the process in informing the campus?
Amy Bentley-Smith, the Director of Communications & Marketing, stated the committee worked with the CSU system office in order to make the implementation of the requirement smooth. The challenges were faced with getting students and workers to complete the form by October 5.
“With such a large audience to reach in a short timeframe, the committee recognized that communication and education of the self-certification process would be challenging and would involve an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said Bentley-Smith.
What is the progress?
CSUDH has added a dashboard to the Toros Together COVID-19 response webpage to keep the campus informed on the process of self-certification. https://www.csudh.edu/together/dashboard/. This information is updated weekly so that the campus has the most recent data available.
What are some of the most interesting things the data shows?
The university is pleased that the vast majority of the campus community who have self-certified have been vaccinated and that the self-certification and vaccination percentages for students in face-to-face classes are particularly high.
What happens with the 6% of religious exemptions?
We have 3% students and 3% employees who have religious exemptions. The combined campus community percentage of religious exemptions is more like 3% as well. As stated in the CSU policy, students and employees may be excused from the vaccine requirement if they have a medical or religious exemption. All students who have approved medical or religious exemptions are required to participate in CSUDH’s weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing.
Do they need to test negative to go to campus?
Anyone with an exemption must continue weekly COVID-19 surveillance testing and receive a negative result to be on campus. Should someone test positive for COVID-19, they should not come to campus, isolate for 10 days, and return only if they haven’t had a fever for at least 24 hours. If they had been on campus within at least two days of symptoms or positive test results, they must also report their case to the confidential CSUDH COVID-19 reporting hotline (310) 243-2076.
Alejandra Alfaro, a senior graphic design student assistant at CSUDH, turned in her self-certification on time, but still faced issues.
Alfaro received an email stating that her certification was turned in incorrectly, just weeks after the deadline. Even though she submitted it twice, since the first time she submitted she never got a verification it was accepted.
“Last week, I got an email from DH conduct saying my self-certification was incomplete. Even though there were no errors or problems when I turned it in” said Alfaro. “ I asked why, but they just said [the photos file size] was too big and that the access to campus was no longer an option.”
Alfaro submitted her vaccination card for the third time but is still waiting for a response.
The use of events, emails, in-class presentations, and a website were used in order to inform workers and students about the requirement.
