COVID-19 Policy & Procedures

As we have throughout the pandemic, the College will continue to follow local, state, and federal guidelines regarding quarantine (what you do if you’ve been exposed) and isolation (what you do when you test positive or have symptoms). 

In cases of exposure, day 0 is considered the last date of exposure, with day 1 marking the first full day after your last contact. Current CDC guidelines for cases of COVID-19 exposure vary based on an individual's vaccination status.

Fully vaccinated individuals:

• Are NOT required to quarantine, unless symptoms develop
• Should monitor daily for symptoms
• Should wear a mask at all times for 10 days after exposure, even in a residence hall room with roommates, where able (masks do NOT need to be worn while eating, sleeping, drinking, or bathing)
• Should get tested at least 5 days after your last contact with the positive individual
• If symptoms develop, isolate immediately and get tested. Students should contact the Wellness Center at wellness@endicott.edu, while employees should contact their healthcare provider.

Unvaccinated individuals:

• Should quarantine for at least 5 days
• Should get tested at least 5 days after your last contact with the positive individual
• Should wear a mask at all times for 10 days after exposure, even in a residence hall room with roommates, where able (masks do NOT need to be worn while eating, sleeping, drinking, or bathing)
• If symptoms develop, isolate immediately and get tested. Students should contact the Wellness Center at wellness@endicott.edu, while employees should contact their healthcare provider.

Students in isolation/quarantine should make arrangements with their professors to continue coursework. Once the College is notified of an isolation/quarantine case, we will alert your professors. Where possible, remote class attendance will be provided.

All employees have been granted 5 days of COVID exposure time to be used for quarantining and/or isolation. If employees  require further time off after 5 days, they will be required to take health absence time to cover any remaining time away from work.

Employees required to quarantine or isolate should reach out to humanresources@endicott.edu and their manager to make arrangements. Employees will be required to take health absence time to cover any time away from work once they have exhausted their five days of COVID paid time off (PTO). Only managers can input COVID PTO hours into the ADP system on behalf of their staff. If employees remain symptomatic after 5 days, employees should work with their manager. 

Faculty who are required to quarantine should reach out to their Dean to discuss the continuation of coursework and student learning. Faculty and staff should always ensure they are taking care of themselves and/or their families.

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 with either a PCR or at-home antigen test must immediately begin isolation regardless of vaccination status. Students who test positive should immediately alert covidvaccine@endicott.edu and begin isolation procedures. 

A COVID response team member will be in contact with the student to facilitate at-home isolation. Please note: On-campus isolation space is limited and only available at the discretion of the College. The CDC defines day 0 as the sample date for a positive test or the first day of symptoms, whichever came first.

• Individuals must isolate for at least 5 full days, and may be eligible to end isolation on day 6
• If you are experiencing symptoms, you may end isolation when you are fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medications) and symptoms are improving
• If you do not have symptoms, you may isolate after 5 full days
• Individuals whose symptoms are not improving should isolate for a full 10 days. In the case of an emergency, reach out to Public Safety at 978-232-1111

In all cases, individuals must wear a mask when in public through day 10.

Students in isolation/quarantine should make arrangements with their professors to continue coursework. Once the College is notified of an isolation/quarantine we will alert your professors. Where possible, remote class attendance will be provided.

Employees required to isolate should reach out to humanresources@endicott.edu and their manager to make arrangements. Employees will be required to take health absence time to cover any time away from work once they have exhausted their five days of COVID PTO. Only managers can input COVID PTO hours into the ADP system on behalf of their staff. If employees remain symptomatic after 5 days, employees should work with their manager. 

Faculty who are required to isolate should reach out to their Dean to discuss the continuation of coursework and student learning. Faculty and staff should always ensure they are taking care of themselves and/or their families.

Students who are experiencing any of the COVID-19 symptoms below should stay in their residence hall and reach out to the Health Center at 978-232-2014.

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Head/body aches
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

After hours, students experiencing a medical emergency should contact Public Safety at 978-232-1111.  

For non-emergency medical assistance, students can contact the 24-hour on-call service with the Wellness Center health care provider, Middleton Family Medicine, at 978-774-2555.

Routine testing for unvaccinated students, as well as student-athletes, will continue to be available every Tuesday in the Lower Callahan from 10 a.m.–noon and from 4–6 p.m. If students fail to test, they will loose access to vital campus services including Gull Card access, email, MyEndicott, and Canvas. Repeated violations of the testing requirement may also result in disciplinary action. 

Students

Students will receive more information on managing contact tracing when they notify the College of a positive test result through the covidvaccine@endicott.edu email address. The Endicott response team will work with professors who may inform other students in the class of their exposure at the next course session.

Employees

When you notify your manager of a positive case, they will ask if you’ve been around any individuals across campus to perform basic contact tracing. Managers should inform any employee deemed to be a close contact of a positive case, with the expectation that employee will follow the CDC guidelines with regard to quarantine/isolation. The identity of the positive case will not be shared—however, please understand that our ability to protect identity in situations with contract tracing may be limited.

From our galleries to performances and athletic competitions, Endicott College is a destination for many on the North Shore. It is important that we continue to be open to the community, as well as our students and families. Campus activities will continue throughout the spring and summer. In all cases, indoor events will require all attendees, regardless of vaccination status, to be masked at all times. View the full calendar of upcoming events online.

In keeping with our return to campus procedures, students will not be allowed to have outside guests for the first two weeks of the semester—from January 23 to February 2, 2022—in the residence halls. As a result of this, residence hall admission tours will be suspended during this time.

Students, when you’re sick, you’re sick. It is important to take care of yourself to focus on your health. The best way to prevent the spread of all infectious diseases is to isolate when you’re sick. In these cases, please reach out to your professors to discuss their attendance policy and how missing class due to illness is handled within their policy.

Employees should also ensure they are taking steps to not spread infections throughout the campus community. Health absence time is available for this purpose, and employees should reach out to their supervisor if they are feeling ill. 

Faculty who are ill should reach out to their Dean to discuss the continuation of coursework and student learning. Faculty and staff should always ensure they are taking care of themselves and/or their families.

Some individuals may not yet be eligible to receive their booster depending on when they completed their vaccination series. In those cases, students should complete the Student Compact on myEndicott and reach out to wellness@endicott.edu indicating when they’ll be eligible to receive the booster. A booster should be received within two weeks of eligibility and, once completed, you should follow the instructions received from wellness@endicott.edu on submitting your updated vaccination card.

The CDC recommends that individuals receive the booster once they are recovered from a positive COVID-19 case. In the case of an asymptomatic individual, this would be the end of isolation. As with our initial vaccine mandate, and in keeping with the science, individuals who have had a positive COVID-19 case will still be expected to receive their booster.

Endicott continues to follow the “close contact" definition of the CDC with regard to COVID-19 exposure. Someone is considered to be a close contact if they were within 6 feet of a positive individual for a cumulative total of 15 minutes in an indoor setting over a 24-hour period up to 48 hours before that individual tested positive or began to show symptoms.

Under the new CDC guidelines it is important to think more about being “up-to-date” with your vaccination series. Individuals are considered vaccinated if they have fully completed their initial series of the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, J&J/Janssen vaccination and are not yet eligible to receive a booster. Once eligible for a booster vaccination, a booster must be received for an individual to be considered fully vaccinated.