Early Bird

Latest on Covid-19 and campus operations

COO Larry Sampler discusses vaccination requirements for the fall semester and upcoming announcements and resources.

By Larry Sampler, chief operating officer

May 6, 2021

Dear Roadrunners,

First of all, thank you to every single student, faculty member, staff member and community member who has taken steps to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated for Covid-19 and continuing to follow health and safety protocols. Seeing infection spikes globally and here in the U.S. is a sobering reminder that Covid-19 has not gone away. We must continue to double down on safety and prevention on top of encouraging our family, friends and community members to get vaccinated. As a reminder, Metropolitan State University of Denver also continues to require masks indoors.

Learn more about the vaccine requirement

As MSU Denver has joined a number of Colorado institutions of higher education in requiring vaccination for all who will be returning to campus this fall, your decision to get the vaccine sets us on a great course. I and other senior leaders also understand that this requirement has raised a lot of questions. We’re working to answer those questions as well and as promptly as possible. Thank you for your patience and feedback as we work together on equitable policies, solutions and next steps.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to visit the new vaccine-requirement webpage and Frequently Asked Questions section, which will be updated regularly. Specific timing and implementation details are still being developed, and new information and guidelines will be shared with the campus community as they become available.

Changes to on-campus vaccine access and logistics

As the State of Colorado is experiencing a greater supply of Covid-19 vaccine than demand, CovidCheck Colorado is accepting walk-up/drive-up clients at the 5th Street Garage location. Although scheduled appointments are encouraged, individual walk-up vaccines are available with no scheduled appointment. The Auraria Campus vaccine site also is listed at www.vaccines.gov for the community at large to access, including Auraria Campus constituents and their friends and family. 

Additionally, those visiting the 5^th Street Garage location will soon notice some logistical changes. To better utilize all three levels of the parking structure and to ensure that providers and support staff can all operate under shelter, check-in, vaccine administration and post-vaccine observation will all take place within the structure. This will also allow providers to administer up to 2,000 vaccinations per day.

Changes to building access

Another change that might be more visible to those who have returned to campus is that some building entrance and exit restrictions that were originally put in place to manage movement have been removed for greater access. Look for updated signage soon.

Stay tuned for:

• A more detailed communication from senior leaders about the fall return with key target dates and additional information.
• A new student-targeting marketing-and-communications campaign to ensure that all students planning to return to campus get vaccinated prior to the fall semester.
• A new campus-operations-focused web page and tool kit to help prepare departments for a safe return.

Please continue to watch the Early Bird and your email for more communications about the summer and fall semesters. As always, if you have questions or concerns about our Safe Return to Campus, please reach out through this form or via email at roadrunnersafereturn@msudenver.edu.

Sincerely,

Larry Sampler

Vice president for Administration, Finance and Facilities and chief operating officer