88 Sac State students failed to meet COVID-19 vaccination certification deadline

Noncompliant students will be disenrolled from on-campus classes

Madelaine Church

Francis Yuen, faculty in social work, gets injected with his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Austin Friedheim on Jan. 28, 2021 in the Brown Bag room in the Union. 88 Sacramento State students are not in compliance with the university’s COVID-19 vaccination certification policy, according to President Robert Nelsen.

Camryn Dadey

88 Sacramento State students are not in compliance with the university’s COVID-19 vaccination certification policy and will be disenrolled from all face-to-face classes by Oct. 13, according to a SacSend from President Robert Nelsen.

Nelsen said the timeline for students noncompliant with the vaccination requirement is as follows:

  • Until Oct. 3, students will be contacted via text, email and phone calls to remind them to certify their vaccination status.
  • On Oct. 4, students who have failed to certify will be denied access to campus. Nelsen said these students will have a negative service indicator on their Student Center.
  • On Oct. 6, faculty will be notified which students in their face-to-face classes are denied access to campus, though they will not be told it is because they are out of compliance with the vaccination requirement. According to Nelsen, students who come to class despite being denied access to campus will be reported to Student Affairs and faculty may dismiss the class section if a student is noncompliant. Students who disregard a denial of access to campus notice will be reported to the Student Conduct Officer as well, according to Nelsen.
  • From Oct. 11 to Oct. 13, students who have failed to certify their status will be disenrolled from face-to-face classes and may lose financial aid eligibility if they drop below their intended unit load. Noncompliant students also will have a hold on their account that will prevent them from registering for the spring 2022 semester.

Students who have exemptions will continue testing twice a week in Parking Structure III. Failure to test will cause students to receive a warning, and a second failure to test will cause a student to be denied access to campus and could result in them being dropped from face-to-face classes, according to Nelsen.

Nelsen also said that “students who have made special arrangements with faculty to access the University limited times during the semester may be approved for a modified testing requirement,” including allowing students to test up to 48 hours before accessing campus and sending their results to campus. Modifications will be approved on a case-by-case basis, and students can request a modification by emailing [email protected]

Student Health and Counseling has also verified all 31,000 vaccination certifications with Cal Vax, according to Nelsen’s email.

Nelsen said there will be fewer online classes offered in the spring due to the Department of Education’s temporary authorization of online degree programs expiring on Dec. 31, 2021.