MANHATTAN—During a virtual town hall Friday, Kansas State University announced that university employees must be fully vaccinated by December 8.
This requirement applies to all K-State faculty and staff as well as graduate and undergraduate student employees.
On September 9, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14042, requiring that employees working for organizations that have contracts with the federal government be fully vaccinated, or those organizations would lose federal dollars- like the hundreds of millions in Pell Grant and research dollars that pour into K-State and Manhattan .
K-State has more than 275 federal contracts and cooperative agreements reaching every corner of the university.
Jeff Morris, KSU vice president of Communications and Marketing, said that the University placed individual health and safety at the forefront of its decisions at the very beginning of the crisis.
"Throughout the pandemic K-State has been committed to the safety of our students, staff, faculty, and our local communities," Morris said. "That's been our number one priority. That's why we continue to test and act in accordance with the CDC.
In the announcement, the University told employees that the COVID-19 vaccination “is a condition of employment; employees who are not fully vaccinated or do not receive approval for a medical or religious exemption may be prohibited from engaging in work” unless they have a university-approved religious or medical exemption.
While noting that the announcement had been made only this morning, Morris said the University has received two exemption requests.
The order applies to all research universities in Kansas and their employees. The Kansas Board of Regents has provided formal guidance stating that the order applies to Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University.
Morris said the University is very pleased with number of individuals who have already received the vaccine.
"We've been very pleased in terms of our high vaccination rates," Morris said. "People have really come together at K-State to keep our community safe and healthy."
According to KSU, an estimated 70 percent of University employees are vaccinated, based on staff and employee self reporting.
Morris said K-State promotes a layered approach that includes not only vaccination, but also improved ventilation systems, compulsory masks, personal hygiene and by encouraging continued social distancing when appropriate,
The University will continue to do testing on campus, as it has throughout the crisis. While testing supplies are one of the myriad items hit by escalating global supply chain shortages, KSU, as a critical research institution, has been robustly supplied.
K-State's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory was designated as an approved COVID testing location early on in the COVID battle. The University has processed tests for numerous entities across the state throughout the pandemic.
"We currently have significant capacity on campus," Morris said, "more than enough to cover our current volume."
The White House is expected to give the green light any day to the executive order's fine print detailing how and when companies and universities will have to require their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.
The full enforcement deadline, which could carry penalties of about $14,000 per violation, may not take effect until after the new year. That’s why Biden and his aides have for weeks encouraged businesses to act as though the rule was already in effect and start imposing vaccination requirements.
Employees of K-State must submit their proof of vaccination to their institutional portal unless they received their vaccine through the Lafene Health Center.
The University provided employees with information on the safety and efficacy as well as guidance for preparing for the vaccine, finding vaccination sites.
Biden’s executive order requires both employees and visitors of federal contractors and subcontractors to observe the masking and physical distancing requirements of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—which are ever-changing.