OCC Recommends COVID Vaccine, Requires Masks For Fall Return

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Ocean County College will require all students and staff to wear masks indoors when the college reopens Aug. 30, college officials announced.

The school is not requiring all students and staff to be vaccinated but is strongly recommending it, according to the college website.

"Vaccination is strongly recommended but not required with the exception of students and faculty in the Nursing and Allied Health programs," the website said. "Students and faculty in these programs must be vaccinated in order to comply with the vaccine mandate adopted by clinical sites."

The college is reopening all of its offices on Aug. 30, and classes begin Sept. 7. The Southern Education Center will remain closed for the fall semester and will reopen in spring of 2022, the college said.

All fall classes will be at pre-pandemic levels of capacity, and OCC is offering face-to-face, online, remote, and hybrid classes.

The HUB is operating in the Student Enrollment Building and is open for students to register for classes, get help with financial aid and advising. The hours are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Wednesday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m., and Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

The mask rules are as follows:

Masks must be worn:

• Indoors in classrooms, lecture halls, etc.
• Indoors in shared spaces (the library, conference rooms, studios, technology and science labs, computer labs, etc.).
• Indoors in the Larson Center except when eating and drinking while seated.
• Indoors in private spaces with more than one occupant (shared offices).
• Indoors in public spaces (hallways, restrooms, stairs, elevators, lounges, etc.).

Masks are not required:

• When outdoors.
• When seated in a private office occupied by one person. Masks are not required indoors when seated at a workstation, provided there is 6-foot separation from other seated people.
• When an individual is engaged in an activity that cannot be performed while wearing a mask, such as eating and drinking or playing an instrument that would be obstructed by the face covering.
• When a student is participating in high-intensity physical activities during a class in a well-ventilated location and able to maintain a physical distance of 6 feet from all other individuals.
• When student-athletes are participating in high-intensity physical activities in a well-ventilated location and team members are tested for COVID regularly.
• When wearing a face-covering creates an unsafe condition in which to operate equipment or execute a task.
• When a person cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of a disability or condition as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and is granted a reasonable accommodation. Employees requesting an accommodation should contact Human Resources. Students requesting an accommodation should email accommodations@ocean.edu.

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