UNC leaders shared new COVID-19 community standards for the upcoming fall semester. Effective July 12, UNC’s mandates on masks and capacity limits will change as more than 30,000 students are expected to return to campus in August.
As they did in the spring, campus leadership is encouraging all members of the Carolina community to get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect themselves and others.
While UNC cannot require vaccinations, officials said almost 50 percent of incoming students have reported a vaccination status to the university. Students who are vaccinated will not be required to participate in the Carolina Together testing program on a weekly basis.
“I anticipate that we will be looking forward to a very successful fall,” UNC Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson said.
Johnson said the university will continue with its masking requirement indoors during the fall semester as an additional level of protection alongside vaccines.
“Especially so we can offer that near normal experience,” Johnson said. “I do anticipate that we will continue our community standards conduct protocols for the fall that if students choose for whatever reason not to adhere to those that there will be a process and consequences for those actions.”
Face masks can be removed when eating, drinking, or exercising and in personal workspaces or residence hall rooms. Vaccinated faculty can choose to remove their mask while teaching if three to six feet of distancing from students is maintained. UNC leaders said they will follow science and evaluate the mask mandate each week.
Some other changes included in the new community standards are classroom and building capacity limits returning to normal. Gathering limit capacities are also removed as dining and residential life is set to return to “near normal” conditions.
Johnson said the university anticipates being at 85 to 90 percent capacity in on-campus residence halls.
“Our bread-and-butter is this in-person, residentially-based experience,” said Johnson, “and certainly we have heard from students that this is the reason why they plan to get vaccinated and return in the fall. They want to have that in-person, engaged, on-campus, in the classroom experience.”
In a message to the campus community on the new COVID-19 community standards, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin said, “As we look to the future, we will work together to shape our reimagined university, and we need you to return to campus to do that.” The UNC leaders continued saying, “We have an opportunity now to look at our workplace habits and culture and incorporate learnings from the pandemic to better serve our employees as individuals, our teams and the work that we do. We know that by working together and supporting each other we will ensure a successful return to campus.”
More changes include transportation and parking returning to pre-pandemic operations. Domestic travel restrictions are also lifted, but international travel restrictions are remaining in place.
Quarantine and isolation requirements will remain in place for unvaccinated individuals or vaccinated individuals experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
University leaders said the Facilities Services enhanced cleaning standards from the previous academic year will continue. HVAC systems are also scheduled to run for additional time to increase airflow.
UNC employees are set to return to campus July 19 – one week after the new community standards go into effect. On-campus residents can begin moving into their residence halls August 12 with the first day of classes set for August 18.
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