TOMS RIVER – Ocean County College has announced that they will require all students and staff to wear masks indoors for the upcoming fall semester.
According to the school’s website, they will not mandate COVID-19 vaccines for its students and staff although they are strongly recommending it.
“Vaccination is strongly recommended but not required with the exception of students and faculty in the Nursing and Allied Health programs. Students and faculty in these programs must be vaccinated in order to comply with the vaccine mandate adopted by clinical sites,” OCC states on their website.
All offices will reopen on August 30 and classes are set to begin on September 7. The Southern Education Center will be closed for the fall and plans to reopen for the spring 2022 semester.
All fall classes will have capacity at pre-pandemic levels. In addition, the college is offering face-to-face, online, remote, and hybrid classes.
The HUB is operating in the Student Enrollment Building and is open to serve students in person Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students can visit the HUB to register and get help with financial aid, advising and more.
As listed on OCC’s website, 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.
