Important Changes to Face Covering Requirements and Capacity Limits on Campus

Dear Lewis & Clark Community,

Requirements regarding face coverings and facility capacities in Oregon are changing rapidly. Lewis & Clark will continue to follow guidance issued by the Oregon Health Authority, Higher Education Coordinating Commission, and Oregon OSHA as those agencies issue new directives. The below outlines our current policies as of today.

Masks Are Not Required Outdoors
While outdoors, LC community members and visitors do not need to wear masks. Unvaccinated individuals are encouraged, but not required, to wear a mask outdoors if in a crowded area or event.

Fully Vaccinated Students Are Not Required to Wear Masks Indoors
Students who are fully vaccinated and who have uploaded proof of vaccination into the student Health Information Portal are not required to wear masks indoors. (Instructions for students to upload their vaccine card can be found here.) Students who have not submitted proof of full vaccination are still required to wear masks indoors, except in private areas of their residence hall or while actively eating or drinking. To be considered “fully vaccinated,” it needs to be at least two weeks since receiving your final dose of the vaccine.

New Policy Regarding Masks for Employees and Visitors Indoors Next Week

Next week, we will share information regarding our new policy on wearing masks indoors for fully vaccinated employees and visitors. We are developing a system for the verification of vaccination status, as required by the state’s newest guidance, before we lift the current requirements. We will share those details as soon as we can. In the meantime, masks are still required for employees and visitors indoors, except when in private individual workspaces.

Multnomah County Moves to “Lower Risk” Category

Multnomah County moves to the lowest risk category in the state’s risk-level guidance chart, effective today. This is because more than 65% of Multnomah County residents have gotten at least one vaccine dose and the county has developed a plan to address equity disparities in vaccination rates. This change in risk status increases capacity limits on campus for indoor and outdoor event spaces, Pamplin Sports Center, and other campus facilities. We are in the process of implementing these increased capacity limits.

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission has not yet changed capacity limits for instructional activities in classrooms. The currently posted capacity limits for classrooms remain in effect. (Those limits require 35 square feet of space per person, and no more than 50 people in a classroom at a time.) We expect these restrictions to be modified soon, but they remain in effect for now.

We are reviewing all of our COVID-related policies and procedures, such as the process for approval of events and travel, and will share updates as soon as possible.

Please Get Vaccinated!

If you are not yet vaccinated, please do so as soon as possible. Under these new state requirements, proof of full vaccination is necessary to benefit from relaxed masking and social distancing requirements. It also protects you from the possibility of needing to quarantine following exposure to an infected person.

As a reminder, students are required to be vaccinated under our Student Covid-19 Vaccination Policy.

You can locate a vaccination site through the Oregon Health Authority’s webpage, which includes information about vaccination clinics at the Oregon Convention Center, PDX, and the Hillsboro Airport.

Employees may use scheduled work time to get vaccinated, with the approval of your supervisor. Please talk with your supervisor if you need to do so. You may also use paid sick time if necessary to recover from effects of the vaccine.

Our second vaccination clinic will be on campus on June 3. This clinic is specifically for those who received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine on campus on May 4, although any member of the LC Community, 18 years of age or older, who is seeking a Moderna dose will be able to sign up. Only the Moderna vaccine will be available at this clinic. Sign-up information for the clinic has been shared in a separate email. If you have questions, please contact Heyke Kirkendall-Baker.

Thank you for your careful attention to this changing and often confusing guidance. The good news is that as more and more of us get vaccinated, we’re moving in the right direction, toward a post-pandemic world.

Sincerely,

David Reese
Vice President, General Counsel, Chief of Staff and Board Secretary