Updated COVID-19 Response

Wartburg Theological Seminary COVID-19 Response as of March 2022

In light of the new CDC guidelines, the Wartburg Seminary COVID Task Force has modified our current COVID mitigation policies.

The CDC now divides counties into three categories: low, medium and high. Currently, Dubuque County is in the low category. Find more about that designation here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html.

For counties in this category, the CDC no longer recommends indoor masking. Therefore, to conform with those guidelines, Wartburg Seminary is removing the mask mandate as of March 14, after Research and Reading Days, and making masking optional.

We will continue to monitor the guidelines closely and modify our practices accordingly.

In the meantime, we continue to encourage you to wear a mask indoors if you are experiencing symptoms of illness, if you think you have been exposed to COVID-19, if you are concerned about your own health needs or the health of your family, or even if it simply makes you feel safer. We also encourage you to use a rapid test when necessary.

As always, we continue to expect vaccinations and boosters for those who live on, work at or visit campus.

As a community, Wartburg remains grounded in Jesus Christ and committed to the care and well-being of the neighbor and the stranger. We continue to pray for all those near and far who continue to struggle with the ongoing effects of COVID-19, and all those healthcare workers and others who work for healing and wholeness.

Wartburg Theological Seminary COVID-19 Response as of January 2022

The Wartburg Seminary COVID-19 task force continues to meet regularly and update the community accordingly.  The situation with COVID-19 and the Delta and Omicron variants is rapidly changing, and we are monitoring the situation—both locally and nationally—regularly and carefully.  We will modify our guidelines as current conditions dictate.

Current guidelines are as follows:

The decision was made once again to allow an exception for students to attend Spring Prolog Week synchronously, via Zoom, if they do not feel comfortable or safe traveling to campus.

The following specific practices have been implemented here at the Wartburg Seminary campus:

1. A temporary mask expectation for all indoor public spaces has been implemented. Exceptions to this expectation are as follows:

• When in one’s personal residence
• When actively eating or drinking
• When alone in one’s private working space.
• Vaccinated faculty are permitted to be unmasked while actively teaching.

2. We expect that everyone who comes to campus is vaccinated and boosted, unless medically prohibited.
3. Sanitation stations have been set up at various points throughout the campus, and we ask that you not only regularly wash your own hands, but sanitize public use areas, such as tables, regularly.
4. We continue to encourage you to follow the latest CDC guidelines in your personal practices and recommendations regarding exposure and quarantining. (see the “Key Points” for educational institutions here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges-universities/considerations.html).  Note that Rapid Tests are now readily available; we encourage you to use a Rapid Test if you are concerned that you have been exposed and/or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.

Thank you all for your thoughtful attention to and consideration for your neighbor: we mask (and vaccinate/boost) because we care!

Detailed Information and Updates

HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND (HEERF)

STUDENT LIFE & COURSE DELIVERY DETAILS

ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND RESOURCES