Home Page

Dear Parents and Families,

We hope you all are well. As we are preparing to welcome students back for the spring 2022 semester, we acknowledge that circumstances of returning to campus this semester are less than ideal given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to assure you all that the health and safety of our students and campus community are our highest priority. As we ready the campus by providing additional health and safety measures, we ask you all to partner with us in preparing your students to return to UMBC. Please keep in mind the following, including several university requirements for the spring semester:

Reduce students’ contact with persons outside household or primary residence.

Across the country, there are high levels of COVID-19 community spread, which increases the risk of exposure. To assist in reducing students’ risk of exposure, we encourage them to start limiting their contacts with persons outside their household and to avoid large gatherings.

Avoid unnecessary travel.

Traveling on commercial airlines, trains, and buses further increases the risk of being exposed to COVID-19. We encourage students to avoid any unnecessary travel in order to limit the number of persons outside of their household that they may come in contact with.

Get vaccinated.

Vaccines are still one of our strongest tools against COVID-19. In light of the Omicron variant, students are now required to receive a booster or additional vaccine dose when they are eligible. If your student is eligible, please assist them in obtaining and reporting their booster before they return to campus for either on-campus living or classes. This is especially important for residential students.

Continue mask wearing and handwashing.

Continue to wear your mask any time you are not alone. To reduce the risk of spread, we encourage students to wear either KN95 or N95 masks when outside of their households. Cloth masks or singular disposable surgical masks do not provide sufficient protection against the Omicron variant. Free KN95 masks will be available on campus throughout the semester. All UMBC community members are required to wear KN95 or equivalent masks in all indoor public spaces. Wash your hands with soap and water frequently. Use hand sanitizer when hand washing is not available. While vaccines significantly reduce severe infection, health and safety measures such as handwashing, mask wearing, and physical distancing continue to further reduce COVID-19 risk.

Monitor symptoms and get tested.

Simple cold/flu-like symptoms could be an indication of a COVID-19 infection, especially in young, healthy people. If your student has developed even mild cold/flu-like symptoms, get them tested as soon as possible. The only way to verify a COVID-19 positive case is through testing. If your student will be living on-campus this is especially important. Communal living can increase risk for exposure to COVID-19. If your student tests positive prior to the start of classes or move-in, or during the semester, they should let us know through our reporting form.

We appreciate your help and continued commitment to our community.

Samantha A. Smith

Associate Director, Health Promotion

Retriever Integrated Health