MUNCIE, Ind. — Masks are back at four major Indiana universities.
Ball State University, Purdue University, Indiana State University and Indiana University will require masks indoors regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.
At Ball State, all employees, students and campus visitors must wear masks inside Ball State University buildings regardless of their vaccination status. The new rule starts on Monday, Aug. 9.
Ball State’s previous policy, announced in June, said fully vaccinated individuals would not have to wear masks. However, with the rise of the delta variant, the policy has changed.
From the university:
Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, all employees, students, and campus visitors — irrespective of their vaccination status — must wear a mask while inside any University building, with very limited exceptions. President Geoffrey S. Mearns communicated this change in health and safety protocol to our campus community on Wednesday, August 4. Read his email.
Face masks should be worn so that they cover the individual’s nose and mouth, and the type of mask should be consistent with CDC guidance. This means the face mask should help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the face mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. As examples, face masks that are crocheted or beaded would not be considered sufficient for purposes of this policy.
There are some exceptions to the mask mandate, including for individuals who have a private office or work space.
Learn more about Ball State’s policy here.
Indiana University said all students, faculty, staff and visitors must wear a mask indoors on all IU campuses starting Thursday, Aug. 5. The revised policy is based on new guidance from the CDC, university officials said.
From IU:
Masks are required indoors on all IU campuses for IU students, employees, and visitors beginning on August 5. Masks are not required outdoors.
This is a time-limited recommendation. We will continue to monitor local conditions and will make changes to individual campuses based on local data.
Learn more about IU’s policy here.
Purdue announced a change in guidance last week. Effective Monday, Aug. 2, masks were required in all indoor spaces for everyone on campus, including students, employees and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
According to the university, masks must be worn:
- In all hallways, public spaces, common areas and classrooms at all times.
- In shared offices, shops, conference rooms and lab spaces.
- By staff at desks behind Plexiglas shields anytime another person is in the room.
- When traveling in a vehicle with more than one person.
Individuals in private offices can remove their masks unless another person is in the room.
Indiana State University’s police went into effect Tuesday.
Similar to the other universities, students, university employees and visitors must wear masks regardless of their vaccination status:
The most important thing is the health and safety of our fellow Sycamores — our students, employees, and their families. Also important is our shared goal of resuming normalized operations of academic and campus life activities.
By resuming the requirement, it is our goal that on-campus, in-person academic and campus life activities and experiences (including University events at full capacity) may be preserved throughout the upcoming academic calendar. Wearing our face coverings indoors will help minimize transmission of the virus while we get back to the on-campus experiences that we treasure.
Learn more about ISU’s policy here.
