Campus pandemic updates for Fall 2021

A photo montage of the Five College campuses

All of the Five College campuses have announced preliminary plans for the fall semester. All campuses (Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith and UMass) will offer in-person instruction.

All campus plans may evolve based on the course that the pandemic takes in coming months; check back here or on the campus websites for updates.




 

Term dates, expected student population

Amherst:
Begins Aug. 30, and ends Dec. 17, 2021. Fully in person teaching and learning for all students.

Hampshire: 
Begins Aug. 21, and ends Dec. 17, 2021. Fully in person teaching and learning for all students.

Mount Holyoke:
Begins Aug. 30, and ends Dec. 6, 2021. Fully in person teaching and learning for all students.

Smith:
Begins Aug. 27 and ends Dec. 18, 2021. Fully in person teaching and learning for all students. 

UMass:
Begins Sept. 1 and ends Dec. 16, 2021. Fully in person teaching and learning for all students.
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Move-in and Vaccination Requirements

Amherst College: COVID vaccination is required for students returning to campus. Once the student has received their Covid-19 vaccine, they must submit documentation through the patient portal to upload the paperwork. Vaccination information should be submitted by August 1. For those students who do not have access to full vaccination with an approved vaccine prior to their arrival, the Health Center will help with obtaining the vaccine in the Amherst area upon the student's arrival. There will be more students returning to campus than there typically are, so the College will be making some adjustments to the housing stock, including converting some singles to double occupancy rooms and some shared space into residence rooms.

Hampshire College: All students will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before their arrival. “Fully vaccinated” means you should plan to complete one dose of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson or two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least two weeks before you arrive on campus. Students who received their COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts do not need to send anything. All Massachusetts COVID-19 vaccine information feeds into Health and Counseling Services electronic health records automatically. Students who receive any of their COVID-19 vaccine doses in a state other than Massachusetts or internationally are required to submit a copy of the vaccine record after their vaccines are complete.

Mount Holyoke College: All students and employees are required to provide evidence that they have been vaccinated. All residential students will be subject to a rapid test on arrival, and will participate in weekly asymptomatic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing thereafter, and through at least the middle of the semester. In order to attend classes, each student must receive TWO negative test results in the MHC program (rapid and/or PCR) prior to the start of classes. Employees who live in student residence halls will participate in weekly asymptomatic testing through October 8. Campus-based employees are invited to participate in the College’s asymptomatic testing program August 15-September 10, 2021. The College will evaluate employee testing as the semester progresses. All employees are encouraged to seek testing, now widely available, through their health care provider or local pharmacy. Individuals with approved exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate are encouraged to monitor their health and adapt their safety practices and needs in consultation with their health care professional.

Smith College: As previously announced, the College will require all undergraduate and graduate students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus for the fall 2021 semester. All employees must be fully vaccinated by August 1, 2021. Based on the current guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the College will accept full courses of World Health Organization–approved vaccines to fulfill our student and employee vaccination requirement, in addition to U.S.-approved vaccines, until further notice. Those students arriving only partially vaccinated or who have been vaccinated with nonapproved vaccines should work with the Schacht Center to determine how to meet the college’s requirement. All students are expected to return to on-campus living unless they have been granted off-campus approval through the Off-Campus Lottery or Petition to Live Off-Campus processes managed by Residence Life, confirmed for study away/abroad programs or granted a leave of absence.

UMass: All faculty, staff and students should plan to return to campus in-person this fall. All undergraduate and graduate students must be fully vaccinated prior to the beginning of the fall semester. If the student received their COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts, they may login to the UMass Patient Portal and follow the steps below to manually upload their records. If they were vaccinated outside of Massachusetts, they may login to the UMass Patient Portal and upload their COVID-19 vaccination data as soon as they receive the first dose, then again after they receive the second dose.

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Plans for the academic year 

Amherst: Fall term begins on Aug. 30, 2021 and ends on Dec. 17, 2021. All classes will be offered as in-person instruction.

Hampshire: Fall term begins on Aug. 21, and ends Dec. 17, 2021. All classes will be offered as in-person instruction.

Mount Holyoke: Begins Aug. 30, and ends Dec. 6, 2021. All classes will be offered as in-person instruction.

Smith College: Fall term begins on Aug. 27 and ends Dec. 18, 2021. All classes will be offered as in-person instruction.

UMass: Fall term begins on Sept. 1 and ends Dec. 16, 2021. All classes will be offered as in-person instruction.

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Health and safety 

Health and safety guidelines are still being developed by the campuses. TOP

Student behavior

Student behavior guidelines are still being developed by the campuses. TOP

COVID Dashboards

Amherst College 
Hampshire College
Mount Holyoke College
Smith College
UMass Amherst
Cooley Dickinson Hospital
State of Massachusetts
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Examples of campus collaboration

A wide variety of administrators from the five campuses are meeting regularly to share information and planning ideas. The presidents and chancellor meet weekly, as do the provosts, health services directors, and representatives of each campus’s COVID-19 response team. Representatives from the five campuses, as well as Greenfield Community College and Holyoke Community College, meet every few weeks with their state legislative delegation. Representatives from the five campuses have begun meeting with business leaders from South Hadley, Amherst, Hadley and Northampton. TOP

 Updated July 29, 2021