Friday newsday
It’s the second-to-last day of finals today, so campus is really emptying out right now. For those whose Deacs are already home, many of you might be starting to climb what I affectionately refer to as Laundry Mountain (when they bring home a giant heap of dirty clothes); for those whose Deacs aren’t yet back home, we wish them a very safe trip.
One happy story to share: Miss Netta, who your students know as the woman who lovingly makes their omelets at the Pit, is retiring. She is one of the most beloved people on campus, and she brightens everyone’s day. See her story here.
And an invite to share: the Wake Forest University Center for Private Business is hosting a conversation on Wednesday, December 15th with the Co-Founder of Serena & Lily, Serena Dugan (‘94), and retired Partner and Chief Communications Officer at BDT & Company, Jennifer Dunne (P’24), as we “Celebrate the Legacy of Female Founders.” This will be a virtual event; preregistration required.
Two notices went out today that I want to draw your attention to. We still have a number of students who have not submitted their flu vaccine documentation yet; it is due December 15th. Those students received a message today, and we also alerted undergraduate families that we require flu vaccine documentation from their student by the 15th.
We also sent a notice to the campus community about our spring semester protocols, which will include a required COVID booster as well as masking to begin the semester. Parents and families also got a separate message that shared some insight regarding the reasons for the University’s decision. We hope families will read that message in full.
We know that some families will want to provide feedback on this decision. We are asking families to ask questions or share your thoughts via the Our Way Forward website. Please do not contact the Student Health Service or other administrative or academic departments with your feedback. Right now, our staff is working diligently on the operational pieces that must take place to support booster documentation before we depart for Winter Break. All feedback submitted through the Our Way Forward website will be shared with our COVID leadership team (I am part of the process that checks those messages, so I assure you I will share them). As always, we cannot promise an individual response in times of high volume of messages.
The other ask we have is for your students NOT to email the Student Health Service to ask if we received their documentation for the flu vaccine or the COVID booster. There is a self-service way for students to check their own status, which is what we ask them to do:
The status of a student’s vaccine documentation will be available in the Student Health Portal under My Profile > Immun. History. If they see the flu/influenza vaccine or COVID booster listed (along with the date they received it) on their Immun. History page, this means that their documentation has been reviewed and accepted, and they are in compliance with the policies.
If your Deac submitted an exemption request, the status of their exemption request will also be available in the Student Health Portal under My Profile > Immun. History. If they see a medical or religious exemption listed on their Immun. History page for the flu vaccine or COVID booster, this means that their exemption request has been reviewed and accepted. If they do not see that, they should check their Secure Messages within the Student Health portal.
Note that Student Health Service will update any documentation received after Dec. 22 by Jan. 5. If your student does not see their most recent vaccine documentation under My Profile > Immun. History, they should check the Secure Messages section of the Student Health Portal. It may be that their vaccine documentation is missing required information.
Please know that our goal is to provide our students with a vibrant, in-person campus experience this spring. The COVID booster and masking at the start of the semester will provide us the best chance to deliver the full Wake Forest experience. We appreciate families’ understanding as we continue to navigate the pandemic together.