Faculty and staff at seven Penn State campuses are now required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the university.
Penn State originally announced a vaccine mandate for University Park employees only last week. Now, faculty and staff at Penn State’s Altoona, Behrend, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, and Harrisburg campuses are required to follow the order, too.
The move comes as Penn State attempts to comply with President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 executive order that requires vaccinations for all federal employees and contractors. Penn State is requiring vaccinations for all employees — including student employees and graduate assistants — at the seven campuses, where work is being conducted under federal contracts.
“While the mandate only applies to six Commonwealth Campuses at this time, we continue to strongly encourage our faculty and staff — and students — at every campus to get vaccinated to protect themselves and our campus communities,” Kelly Austin, interim senior vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor, said.
Faculty and staff must submit proof of vaccination to the university by Dec. 8, the federal deadline. To be fully compliant, they’ll need one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines on the books.
Biden’s executive order requires vaccinations for employees even in buildings where no federal contract work is taking place unless the institution can “affirmatively determine” that unvaccinated employees will not come into contact with vaccinated contractor employees.
Information on medical and religious exemptions “is forthcoming,” according to the university release.
“Unless they have an approved exemption, employees are expected to comply with the requirement,” Penn State spokesman Wyatt DuBois told StateCollege.com when the University Park mandate was announced last week. “Like all University policies, there are disciplinary processes in place with consequences up to and including termination from employment.”
Penn State joins more than 1,000 college campuses that already require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Ten of 14 Big Ten schools already have mandates in place, although some let students and employees bypass vaccinations if they get tested regularly.
According to Penn State’s COVID-19 Dashboard, 81% of employees across the seven campuses have submitted proof of vaccination. Those who haven’t verified their full vaccination are required to get tested for COVID-19 weekly.
Penn State had resisted imposing any COVID-19 mandate, instead opting to “incentivize” vaccinations with free vaccine clinics on campus and weekly raffles for vaccinated students and employees. Those who are not vaccinated are required to be tested weekly.
The university has suspended more than 100 students who have not complied with mandatory testing. The university said sanctions, including termination, could be levied toward employees who don’t comply with vaccine requirements.
Earlier this fall, thousands of Penn State students, faculty, and staff signed an open letter to the university urging it to take stronger action against COVID-19 and require vaccines.
Penn State’s Faculty Senate twice passed resolutions urging a university-wide mandate, even passing a vote of no-confidence in the administration’s COVID-19 response plan. The school’s student government organizations also called for a vaccine requirement, as did State College Borough and, later, its fellow municipalities in the Centre Region Council of Governments.
Multiple protests have been organized, chiefly by the faculty-led the Coalition for a Just University.
StateCollege.com’s Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.
