If you do not see your vaccinations after following the directions above, follow these instructions.
Please note that individuals who previously uploaded an image of their card/proof may not see the photo if it has already been successfully translated to the vaccination records in the system.
UPDATE [12/8/2021]: Since this announcement was initially made, a federal judge in Georgia entered a nationwide injunction that temporarily stopped the enforcement of Executive Order (EO 14042). SMU is now pausing the requirement that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 18, 2022, unless and until the courts instruct otherwise. Follow smu.edu/coronavirus for the latest updates.
Yes. Employees may seek a medical or religious exemption which must be approved prior to the January 18, 2022 deadline for compliance.
On September 9, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order (EO 14042) mandating, among other things, that all workplaces with certain federal contracts greater than $250,000 require all their employees to be vaccinated or seek a medical or religious exemption.
SMU evaluated the executive order and subsequent updated guidelines from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and determined that the vaccine mandate applies to all SMU employees, regardless of whether they directly work on federal contracts. This includes faculty, staff, temporary employees, student employees, graduate research/teaching assistants/associates, and postdoctoral scholars. It does not apply to visitors or volunteers.
Other guidelines, such as masking in certain situations and social distancing where possible will also apply to SMU after the January 18, 2022 deadline.
Because SMU accepts funding from federal contracts in excess of $250,000, the executive order (EO 14042) applies to the University and all of its employees.
Yes. The vaccine requirement applies to all individuals employed at SMU who are paid through the University’s payroll system including undergraduate and graduate student – employees (full-time and part-time.)
No, unless students are employed by SMU, they are considered “visitors” under EO 14042. However, students and campus visitors must comply with other safety aspects of the order such as masking in certain situations and social distancing where possible after the January 18, 2022 deadline.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers an individual is “fully vaccinated” 14 days after completing their vaccine series, which means two weeks after receiving the second COVID-19 dose in a two-dose series (Pfizer and Moderna), or two weeks after the single dose (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine.
Under the updated guidelines, all SMU employees need to receive all required vaccine doses by January 4, 2022, to be fully vaccinated by January 18, 2022.
Any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) will satisfy the vaccine requirement. SMU offers approved vaccines through the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center but you can also obtain them at some pharmacies or your physician.
The EO 14042 requires all employees to be fully vaccinated by January 18, 2022, unless they have been granted an accommodation for religious or medical reasons through SMU’s Office of Institutional Access and Equity (IAE). If a medical or religious accommodation to the vaccination requirement is granted, the University will provide reasonable accommodations under the applicable law.
The federal vaccine mandate makes the COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment –meaning SMU employees must provide proof to SMU that they are fully vaccinated, or have an exemption request approved by SMU by January 18, 2022, to continue working at the University. Employees who do not comply with this requirement, or are not otherwise exempt, are subject to discipline under University employment policies up to and including unpaid leave and/or termination. Policies that apply include SMU Policy 7.24, Corrective Action for Staff, SMU Policy 2.17 Procedural Standards for Faculty Sanctions and Dismissals, and/or SMU Policy 11.8 Infectious Diseases.
No. An unvaccinated employee who is not eligible for a medical or religious accommodation may not work remotely to avoid the vaccination requirement. Additionally, the EO 14042 and federal guidance clearly state that the vaccination requirement applies even to employees working from home.
No, the federal mandate that applies to SMU does not permit a testing option.
You will need to upload your COVID-19 vaccine information through the health center portal.
You are urged to do this by December 1, 2021 but required to provide that documentation not later than January 18, 2022.
Here are the steps:
1. Log in to the health center portal using your SMU credentials.
2. Click “Enter my COVID-19 vaccine information” on the portal’s main home screen.
3. In the appropriate fields, enter the vaccines which were administered to you as well as the dates you received them.
4. Upload a photo of your COVID-19 vaccine card.
5. Click “Done.”
SMU is accepting the following records:
Yes. The University is an approved provider to make it as easy as possible for our employees (and their spouses and dependents ages 12 and older) and students to get the vaccine at no cost to them through the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center. You can schedule your vaccine with your SMU credentials through the health center portal, or by calling 214-768-2141.
The vaccine is free at all locations. Some providers may charge an administrative fee which is covered by SMU Insurance if the employee is enrolled.
To learn more about how to request an exemption for medical or religious reasons and receive an accommodation from SMU, click here.
Religious and medical accommodations are being processed by IAE as quickly as possible—many within one to two business days of receiving them. Applicants can ensure a timely response by filling out all the required fields.
If you are not vaccinated or have not received an approved accommodation by January 18, 2022, you will be subject to discipline under University employment policies up to and including unpaid leave and/or termination. Policies that apply include SMU Policy 7.24, Corrective Action for Staff, SMU Policy 2.17 Procedural Standards for Faculty Sanctions and Dismissals, and/or SMU Policy 11.8 Infectious Diseases.
Yes. EO 14042 also applies to individuals who have previously contracted COVID-19.
No. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that the Privacy Rule does not apply to employment records and does not prohibit a person or business from asking whether an individual has received a particular vaccine, including COVID-19 vaccines.
SMU is closely following the status of these cases and will comply with any court ruling that would apply to our University. However, because of the narrow timeline to meet the federal requirements, SMU is moving forward with communications and preparation necessary to comply with the executive order by the current January 18, 2022 deadline.
Yes. EO14042 does not exclude individuals on an approved leave. Employees must submit vaccine documentation to the health center portal by January 18, 2022.
Decisions about who qualifies for unemployment are made by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Currently, the federal vaccine mandate does not require employees to receive a booster shot in order to be considered fully vaccinated. As federal guidelines and mandates change, the University will communicate how these changes affect students, faculty and staff. Vaccinated employees must wear a mask indoors whenever Dallas County has a high or substantial rate of transmission as defined by the Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
Faculty have the choice to require masks in their classrooms/instructional spaces for the spring 2022 semester. Faculty need to post this mask requirement to their syllabus and in Canvas at the beginning of the semester and complete this brief survey that will produce an email to the faculty member with the standard language to be used. Additional masks can be obtained within each school from these contacts within the schools if faculty request them.
You can pick up additional masks through your dean’s office contact. If a student does not wear a mask and you have made the written policy clear in your Canvas syllabus and announcements, you need to first make a verbal request for them to wear a mask. If they continue not to comply, you can ask them to leave class that day and arrange a time to meet with you and/or the chair or associate dean prior to the next class. You should then report the situation to the department chair, who will work with you and, if necessary, with the dean’s office and Provost Office, to provide further direction. Please note that you can add a professionalism grade tied to compliance to your classroom mask policy; however, you cannot add this grade requirement after the start of the term.
Each School/College has a designated contact person who can tell you how to obtain masks in your area.
Students who indicate a medical reason for not wearing a mask must go through the DASS Office for accommodations. Until they have DASS Office approval, which would be communicated to you in the same protocol as all DASS accommodations, they are required to comply with your classroom mask requirement. Faculty should not independently grant accommodations to students or exceptions for mask wearing based on a medical reason.
You can request that individuals wear a mask in offices, or arrange to host office hours in a larger space, including outdoors, during regular weekly office hours. You may also offer to meet virtually via Zoom for students who refuse to wear a mask or you can meet via Zoom outside of regular office hours.
Graduate and professional programs are under the same parameters as undergraduate programs within the umbrella of the university guidelines, so the parameters are the same across programs.
You are required to provide academic continuity. In most cases, recordings are the primary avenue for academic continuity in your area. However, each School or College dean has submitted a list of courses (or course types) that have clear alternative academic continuity plans. If you believe your class (or class type) is on this list, you should contact your chair or associate dean for confirmation. Otherwise, yes, you need to make the recordings available to affected students with these guidelines:
You can continue to teach based on your pedagogical approach. The goal of recordings (and other academic continuity plans) is to provide flexibility and reasonable access to students who cannot be present because of a documented COVID-related illness. This does not require a shift in pedagogy to podium-based instruction. You could, for example, create a solo Zoom (just the faculty member and the camera and microphone) to record the class. This would create a recording that would be shared automatically after the class. Additionally, you could also turn off the camera and create an audio-only lecture that would automatically be uploaded to Panopto. This technology is in place and working today. Additional options for providing this flexibility to augment the required recording can be found at this reminder prepared by CTE.
To discuss available options for audio and video recording, please contact the OIT Help Desk or contact your school’s ATSD (listed here) so we can help determine technology options that meet the need.
You will receive a Faculty Notification Letter through email from Associate Provost Sheri Kunovich, who works with the Dean of Students and the Health Center to ensure that faculty are notified when they have a student who tests positive for COVID-19. This will provide you with more detailed information about options, including clear directions to work closely with your associate dean to have your questions answered or to develop options.
Faculty should report a positive test case to the employee reporting portal here. The option of taking the class to Zoom temporarily must first be cleared through the dean’s office by contacting the associate dean within each School/College. The associate deans can choose to consult with the chairs in making a determination. Options will vary depending on the situation (e.g., arranging for a substitute; arranging for an in-class facilitator, shifting temporarily to Zoom, etc.). The Associate Deans of each School/College report all temporary shifts to Zoom to covidfacultyrequest@smu.edu.
You need to work directly with your associate dean to agree on the best plan for possible scenarios. As in all cases, if a temporary shift to Zoom is decided upon, the associate dean must send notification to covidfacultyrequest@smu.edu.
As with the previous semesters, faculty with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability through the Office of Institutional Access and Equity as outlined in the Needs of Persons with Disabilities Policy (3.2): https://www.smu.edu/IAE. All other quarantine and/or isolation issues due to a positive COVID test or a potentially positive COVID test by either the faculty or a member of the faculty’s household will be managed by the Dean’s Office as described above for temporary solutions.
This situation may require alternatives for any in-person tests that were scheduled to take place during their period of quarantine or isolation. We ask that you maintain flexibility with the student to help them complete all assignments and exams on their originally scheduled date, assuming that the student is feeling well enough and you are able to find a remote solution.
Based on SMU’s accreditation status, we are a primarily in-person, on-campus university. Only those programs and classes previously approved for online delivery will be allowed to remain in the online format (e.g., OMBA, Masters in Data Science, etc.). Faculty with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation on the basis of a disability through the Office of Institutional Access and Equity as outlined in the Needs of Persons with Disabilities Policy (3.2): https://www.smu.edu/IAE.
You may allow an undergraduate student to attend synchronously via Zoom for a few class periods if they need to be in Covid-related quarantine or isolation, but you are not required to do so. If any undergraduate student requests to remain on Zoom for longer than a typical isolation or quarantine period, you need to submit a CCC form so that our student support team can reach out to them.
Contact your dean’s office and contact person for clarification about how your School/College is approaching exemptions for graduate students based on medical or other extenuating circumstances.
We want our students to have an opportunity for in-person office hours. If you request mask wearing in your office and students do not comply, you can move the office hours to Zoom. Also, for additional office hours, Zoom is an option.
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) meets every week to review information from all campus units, including risk management, academic affairs, student affairs, development and external affairs, legal affairs, etc. They review ongoing changes in the pandemic, including Dallas county, city, state, and local case numbers, hospitalization reports, and vaccination status; SMU community case numbers and self-reported vaccination numbers; governmental orders; federal, state, and local compliance requirements; and student/faculty/staff feedback. Any changes to operations will be announced via email and through the Mustang Strong website.
You can submit any additional questions here.
Plexiglass partitions will remain in place, unless you request that they be removed. To have then taken out, please submit a Facilities Work Order.
Facilities crews removed older COVID-19 signs around campus and added new signs with a QR code and link to the latest campus requirements as the campus moves toward a regular fall semester.
Information on testing options for COVID-19 is available on the Human Resources website:
The University uses the definitions as provided by the CDC. Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick. Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease and monitors for symptoms. Students living on campus will quarantine in their room and watch for the development of any symptoms.
An individual may not need to quarantine if they’ve been fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
A member of the contact tracing team will reach out to you if you’ve come into close contact with an individual who has tested positive. Close contact is defined by the CDC as being unvaccinated and within 6 feet of another person for 15 minutes or more who has COVID-19.
Students who have tested positive, or have come into close contact with an individual who has tested positive, should stay home and submit a CCC form. They will receive a phone call from a member of the SMU contact tracing team to discuss symptoms, current living situation, isolation procedures, close contacts and academic support.
Employees who test positive should complete the SMU Health Reporting Form and remain at home. If a dependent tests positive, employees should contact their supervisor for additional instructions.
The COVID-19 website will be updated as positive cases are identified. Additionally, anyone can sign up to receive alerts when the site is updated by sending an email to subscribe-covidcasenotifications@list.smu.edu.
When medically necessary and consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, testing to diagnose COVID-19 will be covered at 100% regardless of the SMU medical plan you and your family may be covered under. Testing will not be subject to copays or the deductible or co-insurance, and no prior authorization is needed.
Treatment cost-sharing related to COVID-19 has also been waived. Treatment related to COVID-19 includes deductibles, copayments and coinsurance. The waiver applies to costs associated with COVID-19 treatment at in-network facilities and treatment for out-of-network emergencies.
Click here for more information. Additional questions can be directed to benefitsu@smu.edu.
Parents may register for SMU Alert by texting SMUParent to 888777. Visitors may register for SMU Alert by texting SMUVisitor to 888777. Check out the Office of Risk Management site for more information.
SMU students, faculty, and staff should already be signed up, but may login to my.smu.edu to add/update their SMU Alert contact information.
