Skyline College must enforce its vaccine mandate
The promise of a vaccine mandate was left unfulfilled by the administration.
The Skyline College campus remains empty during the fall semester.
In early August, Skyline College announced a vaccine mandate for all students, faculty and staff. While controversial, this step is necessary to insure the safety of the Skyline community.
Students who remain unvaccinated are 11 times more likely to die from COVID-19.
Unfortunately, the mandate can be characterized by its unclear enforcement and dismal follow through. Inconsistent with policy, students can easily enter Skyline buildings and classrooms without confirmation of vaccination status.
Students are able to enter campus, walk through buildings, join classrooms, buy books and eat in the cafeteria all without verification that they are vaccinated.
The lack of enforcement puts the health of students, faculty and staff in jeopardy. With the rise of the Delta variant, which is reported as being twice as infectious compared to previous variants according to the CDC, there is little room for error as students begin to come back to school.
Since Skyline announced a vaccine mandate, they should enforce a vaccine mandate. Relying on the good will of students inadequately addresses the severity of this pandemic. While we all wish for it to be over, we must acknowledge that it simply is not.
When a plan has no enforcement, there is no plan at all. Skyline may get by with this policy for the time being due to the limited number of in-person classes on campus this Fall. However, if Skyline plans to transition to full scale in-person classes for the Spring semester, this policy will not suffice.
Under a traditional in-person setting, students will be in close contact with each other. It is imperative that students are protected from the virus while they are forced to be in enclosed spaces.
The worst thing that could happen would be for the school to reopen only to close again because of a case surge on campus. Students would be exposed to a deadly disease while others would be forced into their fifth semester of online learning.
Skyline has the capability of preventing this, Skyline can enforce a vaccine mandate, Skyline must enforce a vaccine mandate.
Rebecca • Sep 27, 2021 at 9:12 am
From a recent email from District to SMCCD students:
“In preparation for the Spring 2022 semester, Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College are requiring all students to be vaccinated in order to take in-person courses, and receive in-person services (Admissions and Records, Counseling, Library, Tutoring, etc.). If you wish to take in-person classes and receive in-person services, you must provide proof of vaccination or your documented reason for a medical or religious exemption. If you do not provide proof of vaccination or if you are not approved for an exemption, you may only take online courses and receive virtual and remote support services.
Starting in November, you will be asked to upload your COVID-19 Vaccination information in WebSMART. Again, this is in preparation for the Spring 2022 term, and will not impact your classes and services this Fall 2021. You will receive instructions for uploading vaccination information as we get closer to Spring 2022 registration.
For more information about Vaccination requirements, please see the Student Vaccination Information Website at https://smccd.edu/return-to-campus/students.php.”