Dear Roadrunners,

As a reminder, MSU Denver is requesting employee consent to automatically confirm Covid-19 immunization status through the Colorado Immunization Information System. Understanding our community’s vaccination status is essential in adhering to public-health guidance and keeping our campus safe.

Please complete the Colorado Immunization Information System Consent/Authorization Form by Tuesday.

Other important information on automated vaccine verification:

  • Employee information will be securely transferred between the University and the CIIS.
  • MSU Denver will not share this immunization information with anyone outside of the University without separate written consent.
  • Submitting this form allows MSU Denver to verify an employee’s immunization status as necessary only during active employment.
  • Employees who do not provide consent will be required to manually provide proof of immunization.

If you have not already, please get your booster as soon as possible at the Health Center at Auraria or one of more than 1,000 other providers across the state.

Masking mandate and looking to the future

The Denver Department of Public Health and Environment announced Wednesday that its mask mandate in schools and child-care facilities will expire at midnight Feb. 24, and multiple metro Denver counties have already ended their mandates. At MSU Denver, we’ve deliberately taken our time to reevaluate masking requirements for several reasons:

1. Change is hard.

This pandemic has been unpredictable and sometimes chaotic, so we want our decision-making to be as clear and deliberate as possible. Protocols have evolved significantly over the past two years, and we do not want to burden our community members with constantly shifting guidance should the situation again change.

2.  We remain committed to making safe, science-based public-health decisions.

Data shows that the Omicron variant is becoming less of a threat and that spread and hospitalizations are trending downward, but Covid-19 is still very present in our community. We thank our community for its patience while we examine a broad swath of data and research before making significant changes to our protocols.

3. We also value inclusive decision-making.

Some members of our community are eager to return to prepandemic operations; others have expressed that they are more comfortable learning and working in environments where masks are required. A number of our tri-institutional community members are also immunocompromised or have loved ones they fear putting at risk. We are doing our best to balance this range of needs and perspectives.

4. We’ve been here before.

In summer 2020, many people were optimistic about a Covid-free 2021, which didn’t pan out. We want to avoid any situation that could cause a surge of new infections in our community, and we have a responsibility to proceed with caution.

That said, there will come a day when masking will no longer be required on this campus, which might feel a little jarring. To ensure that our decision-making is reflective of our community’s needs, I invite you to provide feedback on masking protocols and potential next steps by emailing [email protected].

In the meantime, masks are still required on University grounds. Please stay tuned to your University email, the Early Bird and the Safe Return to Campus website for more information as it is available.

Masking waivers not accepted

I also want to reiterate that the “waivers” and “exemptions” MSU Denver has received from some students who seek to opt out of the University’s mask-wearing requirements will not be honored. There are hundreds of fake exemption cards available on the internet. I encourage anyone who receives one of these fake documents to ignore it, reiterate the University’s stance and follow our noncompliance protocol as necessary. So long as we feel it is in the best interest of the campus community to require masks, they will be required. There are no exemption forms or waiver cards that will abrogate this requirement. Any changes to our masking policy will be promptly and clearly communicated to our campus community.

As always, thank you all for acting responsibly and with compassion for others to keep our campus community safe.

Sincerely,

Larry Sampler, vice president for Administration