Washington State University, as the state’s land-grant university, has an obligation to serve the public good and promote the health and safety of the communities it serves. The COVID‑19 vaccine, now widely available, has been shown to nearly eliminate the chances of death or serious illness related to a COVID‑19 infection, and is a critical element in protecting public health locally and worldwide.

Vaccine requirements for students

WSU system-wide will require proof of the COVID‑19 vaccination for the 2021–2022 academic year for all students engaging in activities at a WSU campus or location.

Exemptions will be allowed for medical, religious, or personal reasons. Information about how to submit proof of vaccination and the process to request an exemption will be provided in the coming months.

Students whose programs are fully online and/or for which an on‑campus/location presence does not occur are automatically exempted from this requirement.

In order to participate in any on‑site or in‑person courses and activities, students at all WSU locations will be expected to be vaccinated by the start of the fall semester. Some programs may designate an earlier date for proof of vaccination or an exemption based on when fall semester in‑person activities begin.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 1, 2021, ���سԹ� students will be required to have documented proof of vaccine or an approved exemption. Students who fail to meet this requirement will be prevented from registering for spring semester courses and/or face other restrictions. Students with approved exemptions may be required to participate in regular COVID‑19 testing and/or other COVID‑19 public health measures.

Vaccine requirements for employees

WSU system-wide intends to extend the requirement to all employees and volunteers engaging in activities on a WSU worksite. Exemptions will be allowed for medical, religious, or personal reasons. Any employees and volunteers who receive exemptions may be subject to COVID‑19 testing and/or other COVID‑19 public health measures. More information, including how to submit proof of vaccination or an exemption, will be provided in the coming months.

Acceptable vaccines

WSU will accept proof of any vaccine that was authorized for use in the United States at the time of administration. For vaccinations requiring two doses, students and employees must have received both doses of the vaccine to meet the requirement. Proof of vaccination will also be required for anyone with a prior diagnosis of COVID‑19. WSU will work with any international students and employees who may have received a vaccine that is not approved for use in the United States.

The University reserves the right to modify this policy at any time in accordance with changing public health guidance or directives, best practices, and/or university needs.

Additional information about the requirement process will be made available this summer. For employee-related questions, please contact Human Resources Services at hrs@wsu.edu or 509‑335‑4521. For student-related questions and all other inquiries, please email ���DZ�����‑19.���Դڴǰ��ɲ���.����.

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities is partnering with Rite Aid to host a public COVID-19 vaccination clinic on April 7 on campus. Second doses will be administered as part of a second campus clinic on April 28.

The clinic will be hosted from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. in the ���سԹ� Consolidated Information Center (CIC) during both days. Sign-up for an appointment at . Read more about the  to see if you are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

In addition to registering for an appointment online, individuals should plan to bring their medical and pharmacy insurance cards, a valid ID, as well as their completed consent form.

At the on-campus clinic, individuals will be guided into a socially-distanced waiting area before receiving the vaccine. Following the administering of their vaccine, they will be guided into a socially-distanced and monitored recovery area for 15 minutes to ensure there are no reactions to the vaccine. Face masks and social distancing will be required at all times.

“We are excited to host a COVID-19 vaccination site on the ���سԹ� campus,” ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes said. “The vaccine is helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our own Tri-Cities community. The pandemic has caused so many hardships for so many families. This is a great step in providing greater access to the vaccine, for those who are eligible, and getting us closer to normal as we used to know it.”

Douglas Fruit has donated 1,200 apples that will be distributed as part of the April 7 clinic. Everyone who receives their vaccine that day will receive a free apple.

For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit the .

 

Media contact:

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� director of marketing and communication, 619-403-3617 (cell), maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Elinor Lake, intern, ���سԹ� communications

RICHLAND, Wash. – Former professor and long-time ���سԹ� donor Ronald Kathren and his wife Susan have donated a huge collection of radiological books to ���سԹ�.

The 3,400-item collection of books, valued at more than $250,000, details subjects from radiation biophysics, to toxicological profiles for ionizing radiation, to how radioactivity impacts health.

Ronald Kathren said he wanted to donate the collection to ���سԹ� because it would serve as a research resource to students, faculty and professionals in radiological, engineering and other related industries. It also serves as a useful historical collection, he said.

Kathren taught radiological and environmental sciences at ���سԹ� and served as the director of the U.S. Transuranium and Uranium Registries at WSU. He currently serves on the Herbert M. Parker Foundation board, a partner of WSU, which is committed to educating the public on radiological sciences. The Parker Foundation also hosts two lectures a year to provide renowned professionals of the radiological sciences an educational platform.

The collection is incredibly valuable to ���سԹ� as a resource, as the university has many research and professional ties to the Hanford Site, in the radiological cleanup effort of the site and generally in the study of how radiation impacts health and other areas, said Karly Bailey, development coordinator for the WSU Foundation.

“The collection contains unique materials relating to studies of radiological effects, including works by such scientific luminaries as Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford, as well as the library of the radium dial painter studies,” he said. “As such it will be of value to students and researchers in medicine, physics, environmental sciences and especially the Hanford History Project. Looking down the road, I see many scholarly publications that would benefit from it.”

Kathren is a graduate of UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh, is board certified in both health physics and environmental engineering and is a past president of the Health Physics Society and the American Academy of Health Physics.

 

Contact:

Steve Bisch, ���سԹ� library circulation supervisor, 509-372-7313, sbisch@wsu.edu