SDSU Facial Covering Policy
Dear SDSU Community,
Earlier this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance around facial coverings.
Following that announcement, the California Department of Public Health and County of San Diego updated their guidance to now recommend facial coverings while indoors, regardless of vaccine status, to facilitate enforcement and to slow the spread among those segments of the population which remain either unvaccinated or otherwise medically vulnerable
Given these developments, and given the remaining weeks of summer repopulation occurring prior to our campus vaccination requirement going into effect, we have decided to modify our existing university policy for facial coverings to align with these timely public health updates.
These will remain in effect through the first several weeks of the fall semester out of an abundance of caution.
Effective Monday, Aug. 2, and through Sept. 30, the university’s facial covering policy is as follows:
Facial coverings are required in the following settings:
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When in public-facing indoor settings.
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When in non-public-facing indoor settings, to include research spaces, when visitors or students are present.
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When in instructional settings, whether indoors or outdoors.
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This includes classrooms, instructional labs, spaces being actively used in an instructional capacity, and the University Library.
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As shared earlier, vaccinated instructional faculty, teaching assistants and interpreters can remove their facial coverings when teaching as long as students are masked in the classroom.
Facial coverings are recommended in the following settings:
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Facial coverings must be worn at all times while indoors.
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Unvaccinated individuals must wear facial coverings outdoors when unable to maintain six feet of distance from others.
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Certain limited exceptions to wearing a facial covering will be granted to unvaccinated individuals, which are outlined in the full policy online.
Please refer to the full facial coverings policy, housed on the university’s COVID-19 site.
While masks are an added safety measure and can help slow the spread, vaccinations are what is critical for putting the pandemic fully behind us.
We are pleased that more than 25,000 of our students and a majority of our faculty and staff have already confirmed that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which remains the best protection. If you have not done so already, please seek out a vaccination as soon as possible. Details on how to find a COVID-19 vaccine are available online and same-day appointments can be made.
Information on submitting a COVID-19 vaccination exemption request for medical or religious reasons can be found here, with a deadline of Aug. 16.
To our students:
If you will be physically present on campus this fall for any reason — instruction, events, sports, meetings or other reasons — you must be vaccinated against COVID-19. Upload your COVID-19 vaccination documentation via the HealtheConnect portal by Monday, Aug. 16. The upload process takes no more than 10 minutes.
You are the reason we are here, and why this great institution exists. At any time, please reach out to our designated team members as you need to connect with services or academic support preparing for the fall semester. We are incredibly excited to see you this semester, and your good health, individual safety and overall success is what we want for each of you.
To our faculty and staff, including auxiliary employees with SDSU Research Foundation, Associated Students and Aztec Shops
As we shared earlier in the week, all non-represented faculty and staff, including auxiliary employees, should submit their completed vaccination documentation to HealtheConnect no later than Aug. 16. The upload process takes no more than 10 minutes., and is a separate process than filling out the self-attestation vaccination form, which many completed before.
In the interest of your success and well-being, we ask that you also rely on campus support services listed for faculty and staff as you need them. Through this link you will find 24/7 support, counseling, and assistance is available, for any reason.
We have been working together and monitoring every single day the conditions of COVID-19, and the tools available to us to protect our community.
As we always have, we will be attentive to guidance from our partners in both the San Diego and Imperial counties, as well as guidance shared at the state and federal levels. We also meet regularly with our counterparts across the California State University system to forecast and plan for additional support, guidance, and to help one another.
With warm regards,
Adela de la Torre, Ph.D.
San Diego State University President
Agnes Wong Nickerson, MBA
Interim Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs and Chief Financial Officer
J. Luke Wood, Ph.D.
Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity