On Wednesday, registration holds for Bradley students without evidence of full COVID-19 vaccination or an appropriate exemption were put in place, barring them from signing up for January Interim and spring 2022 classes.
Starting in January 2022, unless a student is enrolled in Bradley’s online or non-residential programs, it is required for them to be either vaccinated or properly exempt.
With Bradley having a system for disciplinary action regarding non-compliance in place since the start of the semester, which can culminate in dismissals from campus, here are the available specifics of how disciplinary action is enacted for both students and faculty.
In an email interview, university spokesperson Renee Charles stated that Bradley gives extensive effort to communicate and work with unvaccinated and non-exempt students through various means, including emails, phone calls, texts and the Navigate app.
With vaccination rates at 87% for students and 90.5% for employees as of this writing, Charles emphasized that the pool of non-compliant cases is small, which has minimized the number of dismissal cases.
When asked about exact numbers and details of cases, Charles declined to comment, stating that details of student conduct or disciplinary action are not shared.
On a flowchart included in the hold announcement on Wednesday, dismissals of non-compliant students were mainly framed through students deciding not to return to Bradley, as opposed to being involuntarily directed off campus.
“We are not kicking people out as in, ‘Pack your bags and leave now,’” Charles said.
Charles stated separately that the registration holds in place can act as their own withdrawal of enrollment.
“The bottom line is if you are not compliant with your vaccination status or [don’t] have an accepted exemption, you won’t be able to register for spring or J-term classes, so you will no longer be enrolled,” Charles said.
Charles also stated that cases of non-compliant faculty members are currently being managed by Bradley’s Human Resources Department, which is also at work to ensure smooth transitions into next semester.
“The details on that are still being worked out, but the premise is the same,” Charles said. “We are working with employees to make sure they are aware of what’s expected and we will do all we can to help bring them into compliance.”
In instances of faculty leaving Bradley, the university is looking into means of replacing positions.
