New Jersey Institute of Technology President Joel S. Bloom announced plans for the university to return to primarily in-person learning this fall given the “trajectory that we are on as a university, as a state and as a nation in regard to vaccine rollout.”
Bloom shared the plan in a message to the campus community about NJIT’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s the full message:
“I would like to share with you some updates regarding our ongoing pandemic response as well as our planning for Fall 2021.
“We now are in the seventh week of our Spring 2021 semester and have been conducting converged, in-person learning for more than five of those weeks. Since mid-January, NJIT has housed students in residence halls, had offices open for operations, and welcomed close to 4,000 people to campus regularly. Students are learning in labs and classrooms; faculty are actively engaged in research; intercollegiate athletic competitions and training are taking place; and critical work is being done. During this time, we have seen strong adherence to our pandemic safety protocols and have conducted roughly 6,000 surveillance tests since early January with less than 70 positive results. In addition to this positive news, we are working with University Hospital to provide vaccine access to all of our eligible faculty members and plan to expand this partnership based on revised state criteria and capacity.
“We must remain vigilant, but I am encouraged by the way our university community has responded to the pandemic as well as recent developments related to national and regional vaccination efforts. The announcement by the Federal Government last week regarding amassing a vaccine supply sufficient for every adult American by May 2021 gives us further reason for optimism.
“In light of the trajectory we are on as a university, as a state, and as a nation with regard to vaccine rollout, I am pleased to announce that NJIT is planning for a Fall 2021 semester that returns us to primarily in-person instruction with full residence halls, in-person activities, active research labs, and our buildings and other facilities operating at full or nearly full capacity. We are looking forward to having our students and professors back in classrooms and our campus community returning to its pre-pandemic vibrance.
“For us to achieve this goal, we must continue to follow all protocols in place at present, including wearing face coverings and practicing social distancing as well as good hand hygiene, and we must encourage our university community members to register for and get one of the available COVID vaccines once they are eligible under the established criteria. More information about COVID vaccines can be found at the State of New Jersey’s COVID-19 Information Hub.
“In preparing for the Fall 2021 semester, we will continue to follow the three pillars of our pandemic recovery plan — adherence to mandates, reliance upon the guidance of experts and agencies, and informed judgement — which have served us well throughout this challenging time. We also will continue to be guided by the dual priorities we established at the outset of this pandemic — providing, to the best degree possible, for the safety and wellness of the NJIT community and delivering upon the university’s educational mission.
“Thank you for all your continuing contributions to the success of our pandemic recovery efforts, as well as your diligence in adhering to all our established protocols.”
