University of Redlands
January 7, 2022
To: CAS Undergraduate Students and Families
From: University Dean of Student Affairs Donna Eddleman
Subject: It won't be long now!
Happy Friday Everyone!
We are just days away from the start of the spring semester. The excitement continues to build!
Here are today’s updates/reminders:
Tomorrow we will host New Student Orientation for the newest members of our community. To each of you who have made the decision to join Bulldog Nation: Welcome; we’re glad you’re here.
The campus bookstore will be open Sunday, January 9 from 11am – 3pm. Next week, Monday through Friday, they will be open 9am – 3pm. Expanded hours will begin the week of January 17.
We have made the decision to limit dining venue service to Grab-N-Go for the week of January 10. While not ideal, it is another temporary effort to limit COVID transmission as we welcome you back to campus. As was the case last spring, “all-you-care-to-eat” will continue to be offered at The Table. This means you can swipe to enter the venue multiple times within the published meal hours but only one meal credit will be debited from your account. Last Spring, the expanded outdoor seating provided to accommodate the Grab-N-Go service model had limited use. This spring we will initially provide limited outdoor seating options, but are prepared to add more, if needed.
Speaking of enhanced safety protocols, I think it is important for everyone to know the University of Redlands does not expect to close its residential communities. We are starting the semester with heightened precautions, while anticipating a decline in COIVD positive cases as the impact of holiday celebrations subsides. For those of you who have asked, our refund policy will continue to be honored as it exists here. As I have said before, we will likely confront some challenges, but we will see this through.
I have received several emails requesting exceptions from our testing requirement; however, per the policy, no exceptions will be considered or granted. While we expanded the type of tests you could use, to grant exemptions as students and employees are returning to campus post-holiday celebrations heightens a risk that already exists and jeopardizes our ability to lift the enhanced protocols we announced this week.
To source a test or to make a testing appointment: In San Bernardino County (SBC), testing appointments for each “next week” go live, historically on Thursday afternoons, but over the past several weeks, on Fridays. Use the Redlands App or this website to schedule an appointment. If you can’t get an appointment, at the present time, SBC is distributing rapid tests at no cost, at their testing sites. As was shared on January 2, while PCR tests are preferred, rapid tests results are currently permitted
If you will be returning to an on-campus housing location, be reminded you can arrive as you please; you do not need to make an appointment leading up to your return. Do however, make sure you are pre-arrival test compliant, to include completing the COVID Compliance Attestation form which is available on the Redlands App (just tap the yellow banner).
Finally, we have begun to receive questions about how to submit booster information. Thank you to those boosted and those asking! If you have been boosted, as part of the attestation form noted above, you will be asked for the brand of booster and date received. We will begin to ask students to upload proof of booster shots on or about January 20th. It is a feature that is being added to the “report testing” tile on the Redlands App. For those of you who need to get boosted, the University of Redlands is hosting a booster clinic on campus Tuesday, January 25. While not yet listed on this site, it will be under “Special Events” in the coming days.
To those of you returning to campus, I wish you safe travels and minimal traffic!
Be safe. Be well.
Donna M Eddleman
University Dean of Student Affairs
