February 1 COVID update

Dear JMU Community, 

It is our hope that your semester is off to a great start. While the Omicron variant continues to impact the local and statewide regions, we want to provide brief updates and resources to keep you safe and informed.  

We continue to review our COVID-related policies and practices given current developments, including evolving public health guidance, the local medical situation, and communications from the federal and state governments such as a recent opinion from the Virginia Office of the Attorney General among others. We have a collective responsibility to work toward keeping our campus safe and healthy to maintain academic progress. 

We deeply appreciate that approximately 92 percent of our students and 91 percent of employees have been fully or partially vaccinated. In light of current circumstances and guidance, and this high vaccination rate in our community, we are no longer requiring individual students or employees to obtain COVID-19 vaccinations—although we continue to strongly recommend that members of the campus community get vaccinated and upload the documentation as an important measure to protect personal and public health. Significant and compelling medical data demonstrates that the vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death among those who contract COVID-19.  

Resources and Information: 

• VDH information on where to receive vaccines andboosters can be found here.
• Answers to many of your public health questions can be found on the university’s Stop the Spread website  
• Masks are still required indoors at JMU-owned and leased facilities; the CDC provides guidance on wearing a well-fitted mask. 

We will continue to provide updates as circumstances evolve and are grateful for the care you’ve all shown for one another.  We’ve all learned that we need to be adaptable and nimble given the uncertain nature of the virus.  In that spirit, let’s continue to do the things that have been successful in keeping our campus community, and the communities that surround us, safe.  Together we’ve been able to get off to a successful start to the semester, and we wish you all the very best as we look toward the promise of spring (which will be here before we know it!). 

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Alger, President
Heather Coltman, Provost
Donna Harper, VP Access and Enrollment
Nick Langridge, VP Advancement
Tim Miller, VP Student Affairs
Towana Moore, Interim VP Administration and Finance