Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
We recognize there have been some questions raised recently about our current mask policies given some of the changes happening at other schools. We are sending this email to serve as a clarification of what Carroll College’s current policies are in regards to face coverings.
One of the rewarding facets of Carroll is our deep integration with our greater Helena community but with that comes the understanding that what impacts our community also, in turn, impacts our campus.
We have always been clear that the most objective benchmark we have available from which we will evaluate our policies is the current virus transmission levels in Lewis & Clark County (https://www.
Currently, our mask policy is as follows:
Masks are required in instructional spaces such as classrooms and laboratories and in meetings with professors and college staff and highly encouraged in all other indoor public spaces, both on and off-campus.
We understand that there are a lot of conflicting views on this but we want to assure our community that our priorities and motivating factors are protecting the health of our campus community and keeping our classes in person.
Classrooms and labs are one of the few areas on campus where attendance is mandatory while many other activities are optional. We do have faculty, staff, and students on campus who are immunocompromised, have risk factors, who care for family members who are at high risk, and/or have children who are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine. These are just some of the many individuals we are looking to protect with our current mask mandate.
We continually look at the factors impacting the health of our community when we evaluate our policies. We plan to revisit this policy over spring break to see where we stand as a community at that time and will provide an update regarding any changes to our policies by March 13.
We know that life will not always look like this and members of our campus will be convening in the near future to evaluate how we will move forward as we continue to transition through this pandemic.
As always, thank you for your patience and your grace during this continually challenging time.
The Marching Forward Team