UNC Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of University Professors: Resolution on Revised Immunization Requirements For University and College Students

Tuesday, July 20, 2021
UNC Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of University Professors: Resolution on Revised Immunization Requirements For University and College Students
 

Whereas the UNC System has announced full campus reopenings in Fall 2021; and the coronavirus and its variants continue to impact public health;

Whereas known COVID-19 variants transmit more easily and produce more illness in young adults, threatening disruptions to students’ educational performance and necessitating a pivot back to online education in the fall and winter;

Whereas the current vaccination rate in NC and Mecklenburg County is still around or below 50%. (NC data from https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard/vaccinations);

Whereas vaccine requirements can be an important element of improving public health around the pandemic, as in the past (see https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/opinion/covid-vaccine-mandate.html);

Whereas the UNCC chapter of the AAUP has polled its membership, and over 80% are in support of requiring vaccines for students in the fall (with waivers available for medical or other reasons, as with flu vaccines); 

Whereas NC GS 130a empowers the NC Commission on Public Health to make rules regarding vaccination in educational settings;

Whereas NC GS 130a-155.1 and NC GS 130a-152 already require vaccination of new university students for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, red measles (rubeola) and rubella, and other diseases as determined by the commission at both public and private colleges and universities in NC; heretofore, it is

Resolved, the UNC Charlotte Chapter of the AAUP urges that

  1. the members of the North Carolina Commission on Public Health adopt a rule revising the UNC system immunization requirements for university students to include vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as soon as one of the vaccines receives full approval (with the potential for individual waivers for health or other reasons, as with the flu vaccine);

  2. the UNC Charlotte Chancellor solicit the UNC System President and the Board of Governors to move for such a revised vaccination requirement at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

UNC Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, July 19, 2021
 
President Nicole Peterson npeterson@uncc.edu
Executive Board Members: John Cox, Christine Haynes, Janika Bowman Lewis, Oscar De La Torre, Natalie Ornat, Tabitha Wood