archive
Vaccination Requirement for Faculty and Staff
July 29, 2021
Dear Faculty and Staff,
In alignment with new higher education guidance released from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) and the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), Loyola University Chicago will now require all full-time and part-time faculty and staff, along with students, to be vaccinated from COVID-19. Exemptions for medical contraindications or religious reasons will be reviewed and may be granted provided they are consistent with our policies.
All contractors, vendors, and others who conduct business in our facilities must also be fully vaccinated. We will work closely with these business partners to ensure compliance.
This updated guidance follows recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), as well as the University’s COVID-19 Health Care Advisory Working Group. Leadership from Loyola’s Faculty Council, Staff Council, and University Senate have also endorsed this requirement. Additionally, vaccination card upload data shows 90 percent of Loyola full-time faculty and staff have already been vaccinated. We thank you for doing so.
We are immensely excited to welcome our entire community back to campus this fall, which includes what will be the largest first-year class in the University’s history. While we are confident in our current vaccination rates among faculty and staff and health and safety protocols in place, requiring all faculty and staff to be vaccinated from COVID-19—along with our students—provides extra assurance that we return to campus safely and efficiently. Vaccination allows us to provide our student community with an authentic on-campus experience they deserve and ensures our faculty and staff feel secure as they return to or continue working on campus.
If you are fully vaccinated, we ask that you upload your vaccination card at LUC.edu/vaxupload or through the Loyola Health function of the Loyola mobile app by Friday, August 6 if you have not already. If you have not been vaccinated yet, please schedule an appointment as soon as possible. Those who need to submit a medical or religious exemption should do so immediately but no later than Friday, August 13.
Faculty and staff who do not upload their vaccination cards by Tuesday, September 21 or receive an approved medical or religious exemption by this date will be subject to progressive disciplinary actions up to and including termination of employment.
Loyola’s vaccine requirement is informed by our Jesuit, Catholic commitment to the common good, solidarity, and justice. Given the serious nature of the pandemic and the safety, efficacy, and availability of the COVID-19 vaccines, we are rightly called to make reasonable efforts to protect one another through vaccination.
We thank you for taking this important step to protect yourself, your colleagues, our students, and our greater community.
Yours in Loyola,
Jo Ann Rooney, EdD, JD, LLM
President
Margaret Faut Callahan, CRNA, PhD, FNAP, FAAN
Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Winifred L. Williams, PhD
Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer
