December 30, 2021

Dear members of the Colorado State University community,

I hope you have been able to take a few days to rest and recenter after a long year in which the Covid pandemic upended just about everything and resulted in great loss to many. As we look forward to a robust on-campus Spring 2022, we are taking necessary steps to keep our CSU and Fort Collins communities as healthy as possible. As we turn our planning to the Spring 2022 semester, we must account for persistently high numbers of hospitalizations and ICU usage due to Covid here in Larimer County. Now, we must also account for the potential spread of the more contagious Omicron variant.

The CSU System Chancellor with power delegated by the Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System has approved — and Colorado State University will implement — a Covid booster requirement for those who are on-campus in the Spring of 2022 for learning or working. Vaccine exemptions will still be honored, and we will still require saliva screening for those who have not shared vaccination records.

We know, based on science and data, that masks, screenings, contact tracing, vaccines and boosters can help our community stay healthy amid this global pandemic. Our CSU community has really stepped up with more than 90 percent of our community full vaccinated and not one in-class Covid transmission all year. We must maintain this momentum.

Requiring boosters is not a step we take lightly, but it is critical that we do what we can to stem the spread of Covid infections, particularly as we prepare for the Omicron variant. Information on how to share your record of a Covid vaccine booster shot will be coming from CSU soon.

I wish you a happy and healthy new year and ask that you celebrate safely. I thank you for your continued efforts to keep learning, working, and researching here at Colorado State University during this ongoing pandemic.

Warmly,

Joyce McConnell

President