COVID 19: Welcome Back For Students - A Message from President Clark

I hope you have had a restful break and are ready to jump back into classes and campus activities. I look forward to welcoming you back to BSU and want to remind you of a few of our public health requirements in advance of the start of classes next Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

In addition to the widespread prevalence of the flu and other respiratory ailments, Massachusetts and this region continue to be areas of high COVID-19 transmission, with rising levels of positive cases and hospitalizations. Together, we can protect our campus community by following some simple measures.

Masking

• Students continue to be required to wear masks in all classrooms and instructional spaces during scheduled class times, although faculty have the option of NOT requiring mask wearing in their classes.
• While BSU remains a mask-optional campus (except for classrooms and instructional spaces), we encourage the use of masks and have ample supplies of free medical procedure masks available in locations across campus.

Testing

• Students living in BSU residence halls must provide evidence of a negative COVID test (rapid tests are acceptable) prior to their move-in. Students can upload test results here.
• Rapid tests will continue to be made available at no cost and can be picked up at distribution sites across the campus, including the Wellness Center, Tinsley Center and RSU welcome desk.
• We ask people with symptoms or who have been exposed to people with COVID to test and report any positive results via our COVID 19 reporting form.

Vaccine

• We encourage everyone who is eligible to get the bivalent “booster” vaccine, which is effective against the Omicron variants of COVID.
• Booster vaccines are available at the Wellness Center throughout the semester. Please visit the Wellness Center BridgeNet site to view available times and book your booster now. There is no charge for any COVID vaccinations.

For additional information on BSU’s Spring protocols, please visit our COVID-19 webpage, where you can find BSU’s requirements, report a positive test result and attest to being vaccinated.

Get Help

We all struggle with emotional, financial and other issues at different times in our lives. A good place to start in coping with these stressors is to reach out and get the support and help you need. BSU has amazing resources available to help you. Please check out the recently revised website to learn more about the ways that we are here for you.

As BSU Bears, we have a responsibility to care for each other. Thank you in advance for following our COVID requirements and keeping everyone in our community safe.