ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Augustana College leaders are providing more details about how they plan to use COVID-19 vaccine data collected this month.
In a virtual campus briefing last week, college officials announced students, faculty and staff are required to share their vaccination status and plans with the college on or before August 1, 2021.
College officials said that data will be treated confidentially. Only a select number of staff at the college will have access to the data, according to college officials.
Anyone not fully vaccinated will be required to wear a mask on campus, maintain social distancing and participate in temperature and health checks, college officials said.
The data is not meant to single out specific students, said Augustana College Vice President and Dean of Students Wes Brooks. Instead, Brooks said the data will give college leaders a better idea of the vaccination status on the campus as a whole.
Brooks said he knows some students and staff may share their vaccination decision individually with others on campus. But, Brooks said he believes enforcement of COVID-19 mitigations and rules this semester will come from the students themselves.
"So we really are looking to our internal campus community and each individual's personal responsibility to manage their own situation as we're asking them to more so in an honor system than something that we would be able to strongly enforce on a daily basis," said Brooks.
Brooks said if the students do not follow the rules individually, the student code of conduct will help officials address those concerns. Brooks said that information would not be made publicly available.
Brooks said once the data is collected in the next few weeks, leaders will have a better idea of what campus life will look like this fall.
That data can help pair roommates in the residence halls, if students elected to have their vaccination status be included in that process. Data without identifying students specifically will also help determine how classrooms may need to be set up this fall.
For students who choose to be vaccinated after arriving at campus in the fall, Augustana College leaders plan to make the vaccine available to students either on campus with a mass vaccination clinic or through other means if students show interest.