Dear Pacific students and families,

Thank you for your incredible resilience during the past 14 months. I am so proud of our incoming and continuing students who have applied themselves to their studies and worked diligently in the remote learning environment. I am also grateful to the family support that made all of it possible.

We are eager to have all of our students, faculty and staff back on our campuses in person. We value a safe environment for students to succeed and to have a memorable educational experience. Starting July 17, new and returning undergraduate students can come to campus early as part of Back to Pacific: Ready, Set, Roar!, an exciting new five-week experience on our Stockton Campus. This will be the first time on campus for not only our new students, but also for our second-year undergraduates. We have put together a great lineup of undergraduate courses taught by outstanding faculty and a robust set of activities. For graduate and professional students on all of our campuses with different start dates and terms, we look forward to welcoming you back in person as your new terms begin. We are excited to return to a sense of normalcy!

As we prepare to return to our three campuses, we are encouraged by the decreasing COVID-19 positivity rates and the increasing vaccination rates in our counties. Continuing to make the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff and community our highest priority, we are requiring all new and continuing Pacific students (undergraduate, graduate and professional) returning in person to instruction on any of our campuses this summer and fall to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before coming to campus. 

Students who are not fully vaccinated by the time they arrive will adhere to a higher standard of health and safety protocols. Students will have the option to have the vaccination requirement waived for medical or religious reasons. A request for a vaccination exemption can be found on the student tab of Pacific's COVID-19 website.

Our decision is predicated on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health agency guidance and the recommendation of our university COVID-19 Council of scientists, researchers and health professionals. It mirrors the policies of many other California universities and colleges.  

Pacific has been a leading partner in vaccine distribution and was recently selected by Blue Shield of California to be among the first universities in the state to administer the COVID-19 vaccine under a new provider network. Pacific has the capacity to fully vaccinate every student and employee on its three campuses.

Deadlines for students to be fully vaccinated and avoid having to adhere to a higher set of health and safety practices are two weeks prior to the start of classes:

• July 6, 2021 for the San Francisco Campus
• July 15, 2021 if participating in Back to Pacific: Ready, Set, Roar! on the Stockton Campus 
• August 1, 2021 for the Stockton and Sacramento campuses 

See accepted vaccines and requirements to be fully vaccinated on Pacific’s COVID-19 website. 

Students vaccinated through Pacific’s immunization clinics only need to do so by the deadlines listed above; Pacific is recording those students’ vaccinations in their health records, in accordance with the California Department of Public Health. If students are vaccinated somewhere other than one of Pacific’s clinics, they will need to upload a scan or image of their completed vaccination card to Pacific’s student health portal, similar to how they submit proof of our other required vaccinations, before returning to campus. All data and information are confidential and protected under HIPAA guidelines.  

If students are unable to be fully vaccinated by the time they return to campus, they can be vaccinated on campus or at other vaccination sites and will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing three days prior to coming to campus and at weekly intervals thereafter until two weeks after full immunization is complete.

If a student chooses to not be vaccinated, for health or religious reasons, he/she/they must complete a request for a vaccination exemption found on the COVID-19 website.

I look forward to seeing all of our students back on our campuses, and I encourage you to get vaccinated before your return. If you have questions about the student vaccination requirement or Pacific’s response to COVID-19, please email the COVID-19 Council at COVID-19_information@pacific.edu or visit Pacific’s COVID-19 website.

Sincerely,

Maria Pallavicini
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
COVID-19 Council Chair