Students: COVID-19 Updates, 2022-2023 School Year

August 11, 2022

Dear students,

It’s exciting to be making our final preparations for the new 2022–2023 school year, and we can’t wait to have you here on our Berrien Springs campus—whether you’re returning to continue your studies or joining us for the first time.

We make those plans for the new school year as many COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines have continued to change, or even be relaxed, in the United States and around the world. Even so, we will continue to each have important shared responsibilities for the health and safety of the Andrews community here on our Berrien Springs campus.

Please note that it is still not possible to completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19 infection. Nevertheless, each one of us in our University community must continue to take significant steps to help significantly reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19 infection by continuing to protect and care for our own and others’ health and safety—which includes strengthening our immunity through healthy lifestyle choices, frequent hand washing and sanitizing, making the choice to wear face masks in extended, close contact with others, and choosing to be up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccinations (which continue to be strongly encouraged but not required).

At this point, there will be no required formal campus-wide COVID-19 testing this school year, however it’s important for anyone who’s symptomatic or ill to self-test for COVID-19 (see local testing options here). If you do test positive, please report that test result using this Google form.

Those shared responsibilities also mean making the responsible choice to stay in your residence hall room, apartment or home when you’re sick, regardless of your illness, to help protect your own health and the health of our community. If you’re in our residence halls, there are specific Residence Hall Isolation guidelines to follow if you are sick with COVID-19; you can read more about those here.

Please carefully review the revised and updated information on our Andrews University COVID-19 website. In particular, please review the 2022–2023 Community Covenant of Care and the accompanying Statement of Responsibility, which both apply to you as a student as well as to all members of the Andrews University community on our Berrien Springs campus. As has been true throughout this pandemic, our mitigation protocols can and will change if the direct COVID-19 risks increase in our southwest Michigan community.

May God bless you and our campus community as we share in the responsibilities described here and online, as we each commit to caring for each other.

Once again, we eagerly await for you to join us as we begin this new school year together.

With care,

Frances Faehner
Vice President for Campus & Student Life