Update on spring 2022 and COVID-19 response

Dear UAA Community,

I hope everyone enjoyed a well-deserved break during the holiday closure at UAA. We would like to welcome you back to our campuses on Monday, Jan. 3. I am reaching out with information to help you prepare for the spring semester in light of an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Alaska.

While we evaluate the CDC’s new guidance about reduced isolation times after testing positive for COVID, UAA’s layered mitigation approaches will continue. We remain vigilant in our steadfast efforts to keep everyone in the UAA community safe. Across all of UAA's campuses — from Anchorage, Mat-Su, Kenai Peninsula, Valdez, to Kodiak — the following strategies will continue:

• The use of a face mask is required on all UAA campuses, regardless of vaccination status. Wearing a mask is of particular importance if you’re with another person in an enclosed room or university vehicle. In classrooms or other congregate spaces such as the Consortium Library, masks are required at all times.
• Masks are not required when alone inside a private office with the door shut.
• Masks are required outdoors only when it is not possible to maintain 6 feet of distance from other people or when mandated by an event-or location-specific mitigation plan.
• Masks are required on campus shuttles and other forms of public transportation. Read UAA’s Mask Policy.
• Physical distancing, as recommended by the CDC, in classrooms is required. This means where sufficient space is available, all participants are required to maintain physical distance.

We strongly encourage all students, staff and faculty to get vaccinated. Vaccines are available at the UAA Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC), which is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For additional information and resources, visit the UA Vaccine Information page.

Local testing and COVID-19 reporting options

• At-home testing kits are available at the UAA/APU Consortium Library or check with your department.
• PCR tests are available at the UAA Student Health and Counseling Center, the Alaska Airlines Center and various local community testing sites.
• If you are symptomatic, stay home, work remotely, get tested and report the results.
• To report a positive test result, email Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management or call 907-786-1300 (reporting procedure applies to students, staff and faculty).

With your help, the UAA community did a good job of protecting one another during the fall semester. Let’s continue to keep each other safe as the spring semester gets underway.

Sincerely,
Tim Edwards,
Director of Environmental Health and Safety, Risk Management Services & Emergency Management

January Archive