As I recently shared, the CUNY Board of Trustees voted on Monday, Jan. 31 to authorize a vaccine mandate for faculty, non-teaching instructional staff, and employees in the Executive Compensation Plan in compliance with a public policy directive issued by Governor Hochul. 

To comply with the Board’s mandate, all non-teaching instructional staff (which includes, among others, NTAs, CLTs, and those in the HEO series) and ECPs are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to upload proof of vaccination into CUNYFirst by no later than Friday, Apr. 1, 2022. At this time, we are defining the required number of dosages for full vaccination as the two shots of Moderna or Pfizer, or the single shot of Johnson & Johnson, without boosters.

In addition, as part of its resolution, the Board authorized the Chancellor to engage with the Professional Staff Congress in order to implement the vaccine mandate for full- and part-time faculty. We have begun those negotiations and will provide additional information, including details on requesting medical and religious exemptions, as we move forward.

The COVID-19 vaccines are the most reliable weapon we have to overcome this pandemic. If you’ve already taken the life-saving step of becoming fully vaccinated, please upload your proof via CUNYfirst.

By Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, PhD