Dear Colleagues,
Without a COVID-19 vaccine requirement in place this fall semester, we have done a tremendous job getting vaccinated and keeping our community safe. As reported on our dashboard, the overwhelming majority of faculty and staff have voluntarily disclosed to us that they are already vaccinated.
The Biden Administration recently announced plans to increase national vaccination rates using the various powers of the federal government, including requiring vaccination for most federal employees and federal contractors. Under the new requirements, we are deemed federal contractors and are subject to the?workplace safety protocols and directives, which include a vaccination requirement for “covered contractor employees.”
As an R1 research institution, UNH is proud to have over $130 million a year in federal research funding. The research we conduct is essential to solving problems and advancing knowledge and we are committed to growing our research portfolio to allow us to do more of this critically important work.
We are working diligently to fully understand our responsibilities under the new directives and how we can meet them in a manner that is least burdensome to our employees. Based on our review of the administration’s new guidance, we will be assembling an implementation team to ensure compliance.
If you have already told us you are vaccinated, thank you. If you are vaccinated but have not disclosed that to us, please do this using?secure portal.?If you are not yet vaccinated, we encourage you to do so and to let us know.
We will be sharing more information in the coming days about our plan to comply with the administration’s new requirements.
?Sincerely,
James W. Dean Jr.
President
?
Marian McCord
