All Class of 2025 students have been assigned a 5-minute REQUIRED COVID-19 testing appointment for Wednesday, August 25 between 8:00AM and 11:00AM Central Time in the Activity Center, located on SCO’s campus. A student must receive a negative test result in order to attend Orientation and start curricular activities.
If you did not receive an email from Dr. Lindsay Elkins detailing your testing appointment, please email [email protected].
From the office of Dr. Lewis Reich, President
All faculty, staff, students, patients, and guests will be required to wear masks while inside any SCO building on campus, regardless of your vaccination status, beginning Wednesday, August 4.
Additional guidelines to note:
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Physical distancing should be used to the extent possible in lecture halls, study spaces, and other spots, occupying every other seat when feasible.
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Physical distancing should be also used on elevators and in other confined spaces.
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On elevators, use your best discretion to maintain physical distancing while also electing to take another elevator when warranted by occupancy.
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Faculty delivering lectures may remove their masks if they maintain 6 feet of distance from others.
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Faculty and staff in private offices may remove masks while alone.
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Physical distancing should be maintained while eating and drinking.
SCO will soon begin collecting proof of vaccination from students and employees. A system will be implemented for you to provide documentation of your COVID-19 vaccination card. This information will be treated as confidential, protected health information. Your vaccination status is critically important when SCO must verify when a vaccinated individual does not have to quarantine per the CDC’s guidelines. Additional instructions about how to submit your information will follow soon. Please locate your vaccine card and have it ready when this process begins. We will start with students first before moving to faculty and staff.
What does this mean if you’re unvaccinated? SCO will eventually require all unvaccinated students and employees to submit proof of vaccination or qualify for one of two narrowly defined legal exemptions. SCO has a right and a responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone on our campus. Additional details will be forthcoming at the appropriate time. August is the month to get the vaccine for those of you who have put it off or waited.
As a healthcare institution, we must do our part to keep our employees, students, and patients safe. SCO already requires a host of vaccines for students and faculty. Over the last year and a half, numerous individuals on this campus were infected and sickened by COVID-19. Now that we have vaccines proven to reduce serious illness, hospitalizations or deaths, we must all do our part to minimize disruptions and critical risks to our mission. Your safety is our priority as we work together to tackle this unprecedented public health crisis.
Thank you in advance for your individual cooperation and help in keeping SCO safe.