A broadly vaccinated and boosted 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 and boosted.
To ensure safe campus interactions, a COVID-19 vaccine and booster is required for all FLC students, faculty, and staff. Once eligible, students, faculty, and staff are required to receive a booster shot.
For local vaccine clinic availability, visit San Juan Basin Public Health's vaccine website.
View Vaccine Requirements
The start of the semester was pushed back one week to January 24. The end of the semester, graduation, Census day, and all other academic dates have been pushed back one week. See our academic calendar for details.
Go to Academic Calendar
As of March 7, masks are no longer required in classrooms and other indoor spaces.
The mask update follows the conversations we’ve had with our local public health department and is a result of low transmission and positivity rates, and an exceedingly high vaccination rate among FLC community members.
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!
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.
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 Omicron variant is highly transmissible. 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 for a minimum of 5 days if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), followed by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. 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.
You DO NOT need to quarantine. If you are vaccinated and have received a booster shot or are less than 5 months out from your second mRNA dose (or less than 2 months since the J&J vaccine), you should get a COVID-19 test five days after exposure and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 10 days or until receiving a negative test result. If you develop symptoms, quarantine, and get tested right away.
You DO need to quarantine. If you are unvaccinated or are more than 5 months out from your second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, you should quarantine for a minimum of 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days.
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. Individuals who are unvaccinated will be required to test for COVID-19 if symptomatic. FLC is requiring unvaccinated individuals to provide proof of a negative COVID test prior to engaging in person for Spring 2022. Unvaccinated individuals and those who are requesting exemption from the booster shot, will also be required to test weekly for COVID-19 until they are fully vaccinated and boosted 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 Spring.
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
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.
Tell Someone