Though we realize that we can’t eliminate all risk, we strive to create the safest learning environment possible. We are tracking COVID-19 variants and are working closely with local and state health authorities to keep our community safe and maintain some semblance of a normal college experience. A cornerstone of our strategy is to remain flexible and nimble, responding to unexpected concerns and implementing new protocols as the need arises.
Whether you’re new to campus, or you’ve been a Skyhawk for a few years, we are all #FLCTogether.
Ensuring campus safety during in-person instruction is our number one priority, and you’ve shown us it’s yours too. By embodying the Indigenous perspective of K’é, a mutual respect for others and actions that benefit the greater community, we can achieve our goal of quality, uninterrupted in-person and hybrid instruction. Keep doing your part, Skyhawks!
A broadly vaccinated campus community allows us to engage in the hands-on, inclusive, and personalized learning environment that we all know and love. FLC takes seriously our role in protecting the health of Durango and surrounding communities, some of which were the hardest-hit by COVID-19. For these reasons, it is vitally important that all our students are vaccinated.
To ensure safe campus interactions, A COVID-19 vaccine will be required for all FLC students, faculty, and staff for the Fall 2021 semester.
For local vaccine clinic availability, visit San Juan Basin Public Health's vaccine website.
View Vaccine Requirements
While things look a little different than previous semesters, you will find fun and safe ways to connect with your fellow Skyhawks in classrooms, at campus events, or when you’re just taking a break in one of the Adirondack chairs on the plaza. At the core of these interactions will be our adherence to protocols we’ve put in place to keep our community safe.
Masks are not required outside, however we highly encourage unvaccinated individuals to wear masks at large outdoor gatherings.
Masks will be required in public indoor spaces on campus for all community members, whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated. This includes classrooms, club meetings, traveling in campus vehicles, and gatherings that occur inside. When you walk down a crowded hallway, work out at the Student Life Center, meet with an advisor, or enter the Union, you’ll be wearing a mask.
If you’re fully vaccinated, you can take your mask off in private spaces—like in a study cubicle when there is no one around—but be mindful of when it’s appropriate to wear a mask elsewhere indoors on campus. Even if you're fully vaccinated, always keep your mask with you and put it on if there are several people gathered around you. Unvaccinated individuals always need to wear a mask inside on campus.
Daily symptom checking or screening for exposure or symptoms of COVID-19 is how you can help protect the FLC community—and it can be done super easily through the FLC App! To access campus, students must show a Green Health Pass on the FLC App when arriving at classes or when using other campus services. If you have a Red Health Pass, you cannot attend in-person classes or participate in any on-campus activities, but you may purchase grab-and-go food. If you don't know why your pass is red, email covid19-info@fortlewis.edu.
Daily reminders from the app will prompt community members to signify whether they are exhibiting any symptoms that are consistent with COVID-19. Symptoms tracked include a combination of fever, cough, body aches, fatigue, and chest tightness. If you are exhibiting symptoms, you should refrain from in-person interactions until getting negative results from a COVID-19 test.
New and transfer students: New and transfer students will be required to take the Health Awareness Certification (HAC) course in Canvas. This must be completed by all first-year and transfer students before moving into your residence hall, or before August 30 for students living off-campus. The HAC is part of Pre-Campus Academy, and can be accessed at fortlewis.edu/hac.
Continuing students: Students who took the HAC last year will not be required to take it again.
Move-in: Residents will be allowed to bring two guests to assist with move-in, and all guests and residents will need to wear masks during move-in.
School-related travel: Individuals traveling for college purposes will need to wear a mask while traveling in a van or bus.
Unvaccinated individuals are at higher risk for developing the disease caused by COVID-19 and spreading it to others. To keep campus safe, it is vital that students, faculty, and staff are vaccinated and that those who are exempt from the vaccine take the precautions mentioned above when interacting with others. The CDC has stated that the delta variant is highly transmissible and is now the dominant coronavirus strain across the country. There is increased concern for young, unvaccinated people, who are being hospitalized at alarming rates. When COVID-19 cases are found on campus, an expert team of FLC staff and public health officials will work together to support sick individuals and prevent the spread of the disease. Here’s what you need to know about positive cases on campus.
Public health representatives work to stop the spread of COVID-19 through contact tracing. In this strategy, public health workers talk to people with COVID-19 to learn about physically close contacts (within 6 feet for longer than 15 minutes) made by a potentially infectious person. With this information, our team can follow the chain of infection to understand how the disease might have spread. All contact tracers are trained in how to manage health and other sensitive information to protect your privacy. It is really important that you respond to contact tracers in a timely manner and that you communicate with them honestly about your activities and social contacts.
FLC community members, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, who test positive for COVID-19 will be required to isolate from the campus community for 10 days, starting from either the date of the positive test result or the date symptoms started; whichever is earlier. Fort Lewis College will identify isolation spaces for on-campus students who need to be moved. Students in isolation will have access to food deliveries and flexible academic instruction. Employees should contact HR and your supervisor to discuss remote work and/or leave options.
“Exposure” is defined by being within six feet of a positive case indoors for more than 15 minutes. If you do not meet this definition, you do not need to take any action.
What to do if you have been exposed to someone who tested positive:
Vaccinated
You DO NOT need to quarantine. You should get a COVID-19 test five days after you were exposed and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 10 days or until receiving a negative test result. If you develop symptoms, isolate, and get tested right away.
Unvaccinated
You DO need to quarantine. You should get a COVID-19 test five days after exposure and can be released from quarantine eight days from exposure if symptom-free with a negative COVID-19 test. If you do not get a COVID-19 test, you will need to stay in quarantine for 10 days. If you develop symptoms, get tested right away. On-campus students in quarantine will have access to food deliveries and flexible academic instruction. Employees should contact HR and their supervisor to discuss remote work and/or leave options.
Exposure after you've already recovered from COVID-19
If you're told that you were a close contact of someone who tested positive, but you yourself tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days and have recovered, you do not have to quarantine or get tested as most recovered adults have a degree of immunity for at least 90 days following initial diagnosis of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. This guidance applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
Fort Lewis College offers free COVID-19 testing for all students and employees. Vaccinated individuals only need to test for COVID-19 if symptomatic. FLC is requiring unvaccinated individuals to take a rapid COVID-19 test prior to engaging in person for Fall 2021. Unvaccinated individuals will also be required to test weekly for COVID-19 until they are fully vaccinated or if they have an exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Anyone requesting a test due to experiencing symptoms, or exposure to someone who tested positive, should remain in quarantine until test results are confirmed. The testing site is located at the FLC Stadium Parking Lot and will be open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. through the fall.
Register for testing
Get campus updates straight from FLC leadership. Check your email often for the latest information on remote learning, technology access, and changes in campus services.
Archive of COVID email updates
Do you have questions? We're more than happy to address them.
covid19-info@fortlewis.edu 970-382-6919
admission@fortlewis.edu 970-247-7184
970-852-5175
At FLC, the health and safety of the campus community are the responsibility of everyone. It is important to seek facts, not fear regarding COVID-19; help communicate accurate information and show your care for each other. While students are required to upload their vaccination card or their exemption form to the Health Center, that information is not shared with faculty, staff, or other students. This is to protect the student's health information and discourage discrimination. Our community members are expected to treat each other with respect, regardless of health or vaccination status. Not any one racial or ethnic population is susceptible to illness or is prone to spreading illness.
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