Message from President Finger - Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Policy

August 6, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

With the threat of the Delta variant of COVID-19 looming large in our nation, our region, and in our campus community, Seton Hill University has amended its COVID-19 Vaccine Policy to require all university employees engaged in on-campus work to be vaccinated effective for the 2021-22 academic year until further notice. Consistent with the policy regarding student vaccinations, those employees with valid medical reasons or firmly or sincerely held religious beliefs, including moral or ethical beliefs, prohibiting them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine will be permitted to apply for appropriate exemptions. 

Employees will have until September 15 to receive appropriate doses of a COVID-19 vaccine (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson and Johnson) and upload their vaccination card to Seton Hill's secure HIPAA-compliant portal, Med+Proctor. 

Seton Hill Information Technology (IT) staff will be available in the Solution Center during the week of August 9 to help employees who need assistance uploading cards.  IT staff will also be on hand at Fall Workshop on August 16, from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.,  to help employees who need assistance with the uploading process. 

Employees seeking an exemption should complete the paperwork and upload it to Med+Proctor by August 23. Exemption forms will be reviewed and employees will be informed of decisions in three business days. 

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated employees will have to comply with Seton Hill risk mitigation efforts, including mask wearing, universal testing and weekly surveillance testing, until they are two weeks beyond their final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Those who receive approved exemptions must comply with all risk mitigation efforts as well. 

Employees who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated (are not two weeks beyond their final dose of the available COVID-19 vaccines), or have not uploaded a vaccination card to Med+Proctor, must participate in universal testing beginning the week of August 9. Human Resources will follow up via email with information and a link to schedule testing appointments. 

More information around details, deadlines and answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 Vaccine Policy can be found on the COVID-19 website. The COVID-19 Vaccine Policy, including exemption forms, can be found here.  Instructions on uploading your vaccine card can be found here.

 Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this policy change, which is in the best interest of our entire campus community as we work to provide our students with a more normal experience this fall while remaining vigilant in our efforts to keep students, faculty and staff healthy and safe. 

Hazard yet Forward,

Mary