NCC once again has updated the COVID policy in accordance with CDC guidelines. Masks are now optional throughout campus. Some settings on campus will still require masks.
The mask policy was updated most recently in February. This update continued to require masks in educational settings, but relaxed requirements for masks in general.
March 31 at 2:23 p.m. the COVID Institutional Response Team (IRT) sent out an email about the updated mask policy that will go into effect on April 4. The updated policy makes masks optional throughout campus. The only places where NCC will require masks are in athletic training rooms, the Dyson Wellness Center, the COVID-19 testing sites and other healthcare spaces.
“I simply wish to know that if now they wish to make mask(s) optional in the classroom: Why not earlier? What is the reasoning now given prior statements about keeping immune compromised students safe?” said Rielley Banning, ’24.
While NCC does make masks optional, the option to require individual mask mandates in classes is still open to individual professor discretion. Some classes may still require masks. Professors will inform students of any ongoing mask requirements in their classes.
“The IRT will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation on campus and in our region, and will make recommendations for adjusting campus protocols as necessary,” said the COVID IRT in their email to the NCC community.
The NCC COVID IRT expresses that they are watching the local COVID rates closely. They are dedicated to keeping the COVID policy up to date.
The email sent out by COVID IRT expresses that NCC continues to be a mask friendly campus. Student, faculty and staff may still choose to wear masks on campus. IRT explains that wearing of a mask is not indicative of a person’s vaccination or health status.
