Miami, UC mandate results: What happens to unvaccinated students, employees?

The deadline for students and workers at two of the Cincinnati region's biggest universities to get their COVID-19 vaccinations has passed. Compliance rates at Miami University and the University of Cincinnati vary between main and regional campuses as well as among students, faculty and staff.

At Miami, compliance rates among students were higher than employees, with Miami staff holding the institution's highest unvaccinated rate of 7.68%, according to data provided by the university.

The opposite was true at UC, where officials are struggling to gain compliance with around 40% of students enrolled at the university's Blue Ash and Clermont campuses.

"As a result, the COVID team continues to dialogue with non-compliant members of the UC community to ensure a safer environment for all," a recent email to UC staff reads.

The compliance rate for UC faculty and staff across all three campuses is at 95%, officials said.

Xavier University and Mount St. Joseph University also announced vaccination policies this year but, as private institutions, are not required to respond to public information requests. Both universities share updated vaccination rates on their respective websites, which were 84% for students and 93% for employees as of late November for the Mount and 93% for students and 89% for employees as of Dec. 2 for Xavier.

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The Mount's deadline for students and staff to provide proof of vaccination is Dec. 15. University officials said the Mount expects its vaccination rate to increase over the next week, as the deadline approaches.

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Northern Kentucky University did not require students or employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and do not have current vaccination rates for students or staff.

Richard Curtis, the spokesperson for Cincinnati State, said a September survey showed that 91% of full-time faculty were fully or partially vaccinated.

"The college is offering opportunities on campus for free vaccinations, including pop-up clinics," Curtis said. "It is also offering incentive programs for students who get vaccinated."

Classes canceled for the noncompliant

Spring face-to-face class registrations for 58 Miami students will be canceled on Dec. 10 due to noncompliance with the vaccination policy, universities officials told The Enquirer.

"These students will be unable to take any in-person classes until they are in compliance with the vaccine requirement," Miami News and Media Relations Director Jessica Rivinius said. "Rather than withdrawing from the university, they may choose to enroll in online-only classes."

As for employees, Rivinius said the university will require its more than 200 noncompliant faculty and staff members to complete an educational program.

Employees who did provide timely proof of vaccination or requested an exemption received an end-of-the-year $500 gratitude payment and two days of bonus leave to use in lieu of vacation over winter break.

"Following that, we will look at each individual circumstance to determine appropriate sanctions if the employee continues to disregard university policy," Rivinius said.

UC's website says students can still register for spring semester classes if they are vaccinated after the deadline, so long as the student submits proof of vaccination no later than two weeks prior to the start of the spring semester.

Unvaccinated, unexempt students will be unenrolled from in-person classes come spring semester and directed to take fully online courses, the website reads.

"The university will consider disciplinary measures in accordance with established policies for faculty and staff who are not fully vaccinated or have not been granted an exemption before the beginning of Spring Semester," according to UC's website. "Discipline for represented employees will proceed in accordance with agreed-upon processes currently being discussed with their collective bargaining units."

Compliance rates lower at regional campuses

While COVID-19 vaccine mandate compliance rates sit near or above 90% at both Miami's and UC's main campuses, rates at the universities' regional campuses are much lower.

In a late November email to staff from UC's Chief Medical Preparedness Officer Dustin Calhoun and Executive Vice President and Provost Valerio Ferme, officials said students living in university housing on the main campus were at a 94% compliance rate, with all students enrolled at the campus reaching an 88% compliance rate with the university's vaccine policy.

But compliance rates are in the 60% range for students enrolled at UC's Blue Ash and Clermont campuses, officials said.

"Given many competing demands in their lives, some students may simply need more time to take their final step in the compliance process," Calhoun wrote in a statement to The Enquirer. "We will continue to dialogue with students and share information to ensure they realize that they can still submit information or seek an exemption even now."

Compliance rates at Miami's regional campuses remained at around 99%, similar to its main campus, though vaccination rates at the regionals were far lower. University data showed 91.6% of Oxford students received the vaccine with 8.1% receiving exemptions. At Miami's regional campuses, 78% of students received the vaccine while 21.4% received exemptions, the majority of which were non-medical.

"We know that Miami Regionals students tend to be more likely to be part-time students and not live in a congregate student-residential community like Oxford," Rivinius said. "However, we expect them to comply with the vaccine requirement by receiving their vaccination or an exemption."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: See COVID-19 vaccine mandate results from Miami University, UC