> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Career Resources
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
Vaccination Requirements
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

Biden Ordered Federal Contractors to Get Employees Vaccinated. Universities Have Begun to Comply.

By  Francie Diep and 
Kate Hidalgo Bellows
October 15, 2021
An employee of the University of Arizona who is classed in the 1B category, which includes teachers and childcare providers, receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, U.S., January 21, 2021.
Cheney Orr, Reuters, Newscom
A University of Arizona employee is vaccinated against Covid-19.

About a month after the Biden administration announced it would require federal contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, universities across the country are beginning to impose campus-wide employee vaccine mandates in response.

Arizona’s three public universities announced on Friday that employees would have to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, when the White House order goes into effect. Pennsylvania State University said the same on Tuesday, and the University of Delaware, last week.

“It was pretty clear to us, knowing our university, that we would qualify as a federal contractor,” said Laure Bachich Ergin, general counsel for the University of Delaware. “It didn’t take too long for us to believe that it applied to us.”

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

More than a month after the Biden administration announced it would require federal contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, universities across the country are beginning to impose campuswide employee vaccine mandates in response.

Arizona’s three public universities announced on Friday that employees would have to be fully vaccinated by December 8, when the White House order goes into effect. Pennsylvania State University said the same on Tuesday, and the University of Delaware, last week.

“It was pretty clear to us, knowing our university, that we would qualify as a federal contractor,” said Laure Bachich Ergin, general counsel for the University of Delaware.

Between research contracts and cooperative agreements — like a public-private partnership to improve pharmaceutical manufacturing — University of Delaware leaders estimate about $390 million in federal funding is at stake with the new emergency rule. Penn State has estimated it has more than $500 million in qualified funding. The University of Arizona has “hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts,” Robert C. Robbins, the president, wrote in a letter shared with The Chronicle, and “already has received amended federal contracts that include this requirement.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Indeed, many colleges, public and private, will find themselves obligated to comply, legal experts say.

“If you’re an engineering school and you’re receiving federal defense funds to research or engineer a particular product or invention, that’s definitely covered. Feds dole out all sorts of money to medical schools and public-health schools. They dole out resources for programs and departments of education at universities,” said James G. Hodge Jr., a professor of law and the director of the Center for Public Health Law and Policy at Arizona State University. (Hodge does not make decisions on universitywide policy and learned that Arizona State would require vaccinations of its employees only after the information became public.)

“The federal reach is so extensive,” Hodge said. “Major, research, tier-one universities like ASU, where I’m sitting here, I tell you, it’s going to capture a lot of people.”

The White House rules are written to apply widely, well beyond the employees who may be working directly on a federal contract. In guidance issued on September 24, the Biden administration specified that people who perform services supporting federal contracts, including billing, legal, or human-resources services, are covered. Subcontractors are covered. People who work entirely remotely are covered.

“We happen to have many federal contracts,” Ergin said of the University of Delaware, “but if you read the executive order and you read the guidance, it seems one federal contract triggers compliance, and then it triggers attachment to all of your employees.”

ADVERTISEMENT

But many colleges with federal contracts have yet to issue a vaccination requirement to their workers, particularly those in areas where Biden’s rule comes up against state bans on so-called vaccine passports.

The Chronicle contacted 19 flagship universities in states with such bans on Friday, asking how they planned to handle potentially conflicting directions from their states and the federal government. Most did not respond as of late Friday afternoon, but those who did said they still had not made a decision. A University of Tennessee spokesperson said the institution expects a decision in the next week.

Arizona’s public universities argue that their vaccine requirement doesn’t violate the governor’s order at all. The requirement isn’t a vaccine passport, said Holly Jensen, vice president for communications at the University of Arizona, because employees must directly submit their own documentation of their vaccination status to the university’s health system.

Jensen acknowledged, however, that legal challenges to the policy were possible, and said the university’s general counsel is working with the county and state to ensure that the institution stays within the bounds of the law.

A version of this article appeared in the October 29, 2021, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Law & PolicyPolitical Influence & Activism
Francie Diep
Francie Diep is a senior reporter covering money in higher education. Email her at francie.diep@chronicle.com.
Kate Hidalgo Bellows
Kate Hidalgo Bellows is a staff reporter at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @katebellows, or email her at kate.hidalgobellows@chronicle.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin