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COVID 19 Updates

Important Spring Term Arrival Details

| by Derek Doucet

Spring 2022, Students, Winter 2022

Dear Students,

I am writing to provide arrival details for students returning to campus for the spring 2022 term. We are eagerly looking forward to a great semester. 

Important: Do not come to campus if any of the following apply:

  • You have tested positive for COVID-19 within five days prior to your arrival date.

  • You are experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms. Call a local healthcare provider, access MiddTelehealth, or contact Health Services during business hours at 802-443-3290 to be screened and tested. 

  • You have been exposed to a COVID-positive individual within five days prior to your arrival and you are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated and boosted (if eligible). (See CDC guidance for individuals who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines). You must quarantine for five full days and obtain a negative PCR result from a test taken at least five days after your last exposure before returning. 

If you are unable to return to campus by February 14 due to COVID-19, complete the Late Arrival Form and work directly with your professors to request necessary academic adjustments while you are in isolation. Your Student Life dean can assist in these conversations if needed.

Planning Your Arrival 

Residence halls open at 9 a.m. on February 12. Earlier returns are not permitted and cannot be approved at this time. Students who complete the break housing application and are registered to remain on campus will have access to their residence halls throughout the break. Incoming new students will receive separate instructions from the Feb orientation and International Student and Scholar Services (if applicable) teams.

The Residential Life Office will be available by phone and email on Saturday, February 12, and Sunday, February 13, between noon and 4 p.m. Please direct housing questions (for example touchpad code or other move-in related issues) to them (reslife@middlebury.edu or 802-443-3320) during that time. All urgent calls outside of these times should be directed to Public Safety at 802-443-5133. Students moving to campus for the first time will be able to access their touchpad codes in their housing portal starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday. 

Prearrival PCR Test Requirement

The following groups of students are exempt from our prearrival test requirement:

  • Those on campus for all or part of winter term who take a PCR test at the testing center in Virtue Field House the week of January 31 as required. 

  • Students who have recovered from COVID-19 after testing positive for the virus in the 90 days before arrival. If they have not already done so, these students must upload documentation of their positive PCR test from the previous 90 days to the student health portal or, in the case of a symptomatic positive antigen test, contact Health Services (802-443-3290 or healthservices@middlebury.edu) to be added to the testing exemption list. If you’re unsure whether you are on the exemption list, it is your responsibility to confirm your status with Health Services prior to coming to campus. 

All other students are required to present a negative PCR test result taken on or after February 9 (except late arrivals as noted below). Paper copies of negative test results are preferred. If you are unable to provide a paper copy, you may show an electronic one. If your prearrival test results are delayed, you must show documentation that you took a PCR test on or after February 9. You will be required to enter room quarantine until you receive a negative test result from your prearrival test or your on-campus arrival test, whichever result you receive first.  

Arrival Procedures

All students except those on the 90-day testing exemption list are required to come to the testing center in Virtue Field House on Monday, February 14, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. At the testing center you will do the following: 

  • Show proof of a negative PCR test (if applicable, see above) taken on or after February 9; alert staff that you are on the testing exemption list; or provide new documentation that you have recovered from COVID-19 within the previous 90 days to be added to the list. 

  • Take your required arrival PCR test. Book your appointment now. 

Failure to attend testing on February 14 for those not exempt will be considered a missed test and addressed according to the rubric outlined in the January 18 testing compliance message.

Students Registered to Remain on Campus over February Break

If you have completed a break housing application and are registered to remain on campus over break, you are strongly encouraged to come to the testing center in Virtue Field House on Thursday, February 10, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Students who test at Virtue Field House on February 10 will not be required to test again on February 14. Those who do not are required to test on February 14 as described above. Book appointments here. If you are unsure whether you are registered to remain on campus over break, it is your responsibility to confirm with residential life (reslife@middlebury.edu). 

Late Arrivals, Travel Delays, or Complications

If you know now that you will arrive after the testing center closes at 5 p.m. on Monday, February 14, complete the Late Arrival Form to let us know your plans. If you are unexpectedly delayed in transit, complete the form as soon as possible. Students who do not complete the form and do not attend testing on February 14 will be considered absent and their Middlebury ID cards deactivated. 

If the testing center has closed when you arrive on campus, follow the instructions which best describe your circumstances below: 

  • If you have confirmed with Health Services that you are on the 90-day testing exemption list: Complete the Late Arrival Form. No further action is needed.

  • If you have your required prearrival PCR test result: Complete the Late Arrival Form and attend the next scheduled testing day. Failure to attend the next scheduled testing day will be considered a missed test as described above.

  • If you do not have your required prearrival test result:

  1. Enter room quarantine upon arrival. Room quarantining means:

  • Remaining in your room at all times except to attend to personal hygiene needs in the bathroom or to go to the dining hall to pick up a grab-and-go meal. 

  • Nobody other than a roommate may be in your room with you.

  • Once you have your meal, return to your room to eat. 

  • When outside of your room to use the bathroom or pick up a meal, wear a well-fitting face covering at all times. 

  1. Attend the next scheduled testing day. Failure to attend the next scheduled testing day will be considered a missed test as described above. 

  2. Remain in room quarantine until you receive either your negative prearrival test result or your negative on-campus arrival result, whichever is sooner. Email either negative result to dos@middlebury.edu. This releases you from quarantine. There is no need to wait for a reply.  

  • If you are not required to provide a negative prearrival test result and are not on the 90-day exemption list: Complete the Late Arrival Form and attend the next scheduled testing day. Failure to attend the next scheduled testing day will be considered a missed test as described above. 

If you test positive while in transit to campus, stop. Turn around and go home, remain in place, or choose another location to isolate from others. Seek medical attention if experiencing significant symptoms. You may return to campus after five full days have passed (i.e., return on Day 6) since your COVID-19 symptoms first appeared or, if you have had no symptoms, since the date you took a test that was positive for COVID-19. The following conditions also must be met:

  • You never had symptoms or your symptoms have improved and you feel better.

  • You have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicine.

You must wear a well-fitting face covering at all times indoors or in public through Day 10, even if you have tested negative on one or more antigen tests prior to Day 10. You may not travel or go to restaurants, eat inside dining halls, or eat in other places where masking is not feasible. Your meals on campus must be grab-and-go and taken back to your room to eat.

We look forward to welcoming you back to campus in February. Until then, we wish you a successful end of winter term and safe travels.

Warmly,

Derek Doucet 

Dean of Students