FINAL
MODULE COORDINATION REQUEST
Tracking Number: 20G
Title of Request: Immunization Policy: Compliance Procedures for Fall 09
Point of Origin: Dr. Jim Shekleton, General Counsel
Date Originally Referred to MOCC: August 1, 2006
Advisory Council and Committee Involvement: MOCC (current version of MCR referred on July 31st); Immunization Sub-Committee of MOCC (current version of MCR referred on July 31st)
Date of Final Approval from MOCC: August 13th, 2009
Date of Approval from Dr. Shekleton: August 12th, 2009
Effective Date of Implementation: Fall 09
Immunization Policy: Compliance Procedures for Fall 09
Introduction:
During the 2007 South Dakota Legislative Session, the Legislature passed a bill to require all students enrolled in post-secondary institutions to furnish evidence of immunity to selected diseases. It was signed into law by Governor Michael Rounds on March 1st, 2007 and took effect on July 1st, 2008. A protective measure that reflects current recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this statute was designed to minimize the possibility of disease outbreaks within our campus communities. To assure consistency with state law, the South Dakota Board of Regents revised its existing immunization policy.
The statute applies to every student (graduate and undergraduate) who has been admitted to a post-secondary institution - either public or private – in the state of South Dakota. It states that all students who meet established criteria are obliged to demonstrate immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella. Relevant criteria – i.e., key factors which drive the need for compliance - are delineated below:
q Age: students born on or after January 1, 1957 must demonstrate immunity; those born prior to this date are excused.
q Course schedule: students who register for two or more credit-bearing classes – and at least one course involves face-to-face contact on a weekly basis for multiple weeks – are obliged to comply. This includes participation at all campuses, centers (including University Center, Capital University Center, and West River Higher Learning Center), and miscellaneous off-campus sites.
q Academic background: students who have completed prior collegiate course work in the state of South Dakota (initiated prior to July 1, 2008) are excused from compliance. Note: distance course work, dual credit, and credit by exam/validation do not qualify.
Acceptable evidence of immunity to each disease includes:
q Immunization record which specifies administration of two doses of vaccine
q Medical laboratory report that verifies presence of disease-specific antibodies in the blood (i.e., positive blood titer)
q Documentation of disease state as diagnosed by a qualified physician
The law recognizes that special circumstances may preclude ability to demonstrate compliance as detailed above. Those students for whom vaccination presents a threat to health/well-being and those who adhere to a religious doctrine that opposes immunizations may petition for a permanent exemption or temporary waiver as appropriate. Note: the statue does not allow for philosophical objections.
Colleague Coding:
Relevant Codes:
q Vaccinations:
m MR and MR2: first and second MMR immunizations; documentation required
m RU and RU2: first and second rubella immunizations – typically administered prior to 1978; documentation required
m RO and RO2: first and second rubeola immunizations – typically administered prior to 1978; documentation required
m MU and MU2: first and second mumps immunizations – typically administered prior to 1978; documentation required
m MIL: military service
Consistent with recommendations extended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the regental system considers military personnel to be adequately vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella. Preferably, detailed immunization records for such students will be provided, and codes specific to the individual vaccinations will be entered. Should exhaustive efforts to secure detailed information prove unsuccessful, the student may submit discharge papers (DD-214) or military identification card as evidence of service, and the general MIL code will be assigned.
q Titers:
m RUT (rubella) – laboratory report required
m ROT (rubeola) – laboratory report required
m MUT (mumps) – laboratory report required
q History of Disease:
m RUM (rubella) – medical documentation of physician diagnosis required
m ROM (rubeola) – medical documentation of physician diagnosis required
m MUM (mumps) – medical documentation of physician diagnosis required
q Exemptions and Waivers:
m XM (permanent exemption – medical rationale): a serious, chronic medical condition that contraindicates administration of vaccines on a long-term basis – physician statement required.
m XR (permanent exemption – religious rationale): affiliation with an established religion, the doctrine of which prohibits vaccinations -completion of approved university form required. Note: state law requires validation from a parent if the student is less than 18 years of age.
m XMR (exemption from second MMR): adverse reaction to first MMR precludes administration of the second – physician statement required. Note: Every XMR code should be accompanied by an MR code, indicating administration of the first MMR.
m XPC (exemption for prior coursework) – completion of prior course work at a postsecondary educational institution in the state of South Dakota. Notes: course work must have been initiated prior to July 1, 2008; credits earned through distance learning, dual credit agreements, and exam/validation do not qualify.
m TWM (temporary medical waiver): a medical condition of short duration that contraindicates administration of vaccines; the most common application of this waiver is linked to pregnancy – physician statement required.
m TWD (temporary waiver – distance classes) – atypical scenario in which a student registers for face-to-face courses (001, 025, and 028 delivery method codes), but actually completes all work through distance methods. Documentation from the student’s advisor, department/division chairman, or college dean is required; this statement must verify that the student will complete the totality of all course work through distance formats (correspondence, email, internet, etc). Course exceptions include graduate internships (x94), thesis (798), and dissertation (898) – student verification of distance learning will suffice. This waiver is viable for only one semester.
m TW1 (temporary waiver – one course) – registration for a single course. Note: the waiver is needed only if the course of interest is coded as face-to-face; a distance course does not require a waiver. Like TWD, this waiver is valid for only one semester.
Codes and code combinations that reflect compliance:
q MR2
q MIL
q Combination that includes one code from each column in this table:
Rubella / Rubeola / MumpsSecond shot / RU2 / RO2 / MU2
Titer / RUT / ROT / MUT
Disease / RUM / ROM / MUM
Example: RUT + ROM + MUM
Codes that excuse compliance:
q Short-term:
m TWM
m TWD
m TW1
q Long-term:
m XR
m XM
m XMR
m XPC
Notes:
q In the event of an outbreak, students who are granted waivers and exemptions will be excluded from campus. Exclusion procedures will be determined at the point of the outbreak and will adhere to the advice of the South Dakota State Department of Health.
q For students born prior to January 1st, 1957, no exemption code is required.
Codes that do not excuse compliance:
q TWR - this is a temporary waiver code that permits registration based on partial compliance. All TWR codes should be removed prior to the start of pre-registration for spring semester (November 3rd, 2009).
Time Line: Non-Compliance Lists and Administrative Withdrawal
1. Monday, August 31st: Registration/first day of classes; 45-day grace period commences.
2. Thursday, September 10th: Census day – last day to drop or add classes;
3. Week of September 7th: Trudy Zalud (MOCC Chairman) will conduct an initial audit of temporary waivers and permanent exemptions, requesting campus submission of paper work that validates code assignment for selected students excused from compliance. The results of this audit will be submitted to and discussed with Dr. Shekleton.
4. Thursday, September 24th: Census date extract frozen – expect registration clean-up.
5. Wednesday, October 14th: The grace period concludes; students must successfully demonstrate compliance with state law.
6. Thursday, October 15th: Universities must enter current immunization codes for all students by 5:00 pm.
7. Friday, October 16th: RIS will run a master list of non-compliant students; this will be provided to all universities. It will serve as the basis for administrative withdrawal.
8. Monday, October 19th through Wednesday, October 21st: Universities will administratively withdraw non-compliant students from all courses; the official date of withdrawal will be noted as October 14th, 2009. Those affected will receive prorated refunds for tuition, fees, and housing. Active fall courses will be noted on transcripts, and the corresponding grade for each will be W. A comment will be added: “Withdrew and Date.” (Refer to established procedures for administrative withdrawal detailed in section below.)
Special note: in accordance with state law, a non-compliant student may be allowed to remain in either one main campus course or all distance courses. In this scenario, the student will be administratively “dropped” from all other courses. This procedure is considered an administrative drop, not administrative withdrawal. The comment “Withdrew and Date” will not be added to the transcript. Note: no prorated refund will be available to the student for dropped classes. Consequently, the student will be given the choice of total or partial withdrawal from course work.
9. Week of October 19th: Trudy Zalud (MOCC Chairman) will conduct a final audit of temporary waivers and permanent exemptions, requesting campus submission of paper work that validates code assignment for selected students excused from compliance. The results of this audit will be submitted to Dr. Shekleton for his follow-up with regental and university administrators.
10. Thursday, October 22nd: RIS will generate a final list for submission to
Dr. Shekleton. It will reveal any students who remain non-compliant with state law, but were not administratively withdrawn. Dr. Shekleton will orchestrate campus-specific follow-up to insure that the regental system abides by this immunization statute.
11. Week of October 26th: Removal of TWD, TW1, and TWR codes (deadline is October 30th).
Colleague Procedures for Administrative Withdrawal:
Withdrawing a Student after Census Date with W grades (within the semester)
Step 1 – Access the Registration Session Defaults (RGSD) screen
Step 2 - Set date to effective date of withdrawal.
Step 3 – Update the RGSD screen
Step 4 – Access the Registration (RGN) screen for the student
Step 5 - Detail on status field to Section Registration Changes (SRGC) screen
· Enter W in the Status field
· Enter the date of the withdrawal
· Enter the reason
· Enter W in the Drop Grade/Exp Date field
Step 6 – Update the SRGC and RGN screens
Step 7 – Access the Final Grade by Individual (FGID) screen for the term of the withdrawal
Step 8 – Verify the W grades for the term of the withdrawal
Step 9 – Access the Student Hiatus (STHI) screen
Step 10 - Type in Student ID number and (A) to add
· Complete the following fields:
o Hiatus - W (Withdrawn)
o Reason - Enter AD (Administrative)
o Last Attendance Date - Enter last date of attendance
o Term - Term (ex 2002SU/SP/FA)
o Start/End Date –
§ Enter effect date as the start date
§ Enter last date of semester as the end date
o Housing End Date – Enter effect date
o Meal Plan End Date – Enter effect date
o Advisors - Detail to Student Advisor Listing (STAD) screen
Step 11 - Detail on advisor(s) name(s) of all active program(s) to Faculty Advisee Detail (FADT) screen
· Enter an end Date with effective date of withdrawal.
Step 12 - Detail on Registration Info (in the FADT screen) to go to the Student Acad Program (SACP) screen
Note: If there is no university advisor recorded, the SACP will need to be accessed directly from the menu instead of FADT.
· Detail on Status/Dt/Opr. to go to the Student Program Status History (SPSH) screen
o go to next available field and type (W) Withdrawn & enter
§ The Home University program should be withdrawn by the Home University; the other active programs should be inactivated by the appropriate university of the program.
· The date must be the last date of the semester for accurate reporting to Clearinghouse.
o End Date will populate after screen saved.
Step 13 – Update until returned to a blank STHI screen.
Step 14 – Access the Additional Student Term Info (ASTR) screen
· Enter the Status/Date –
o (W) Withdraw status
o Effective date of withdrawal for date
NOTE: Verify that all succeeding dates are prior to the effective date. The W or T (Transcripted) status must be the top status.
Example: 1: T Transcripted 07/25/02
2: W Withdrawn 05/14/02
3: R Registered 05/14/02
· Enter Print Comments - Type Withdrew and the Withdrawal Date (mm/dd/yy) for Administrative Withdrawals.
o The format for comments that print on a transcript is x – comment (where x is the university identifier)
o This will print on the transcript without the university identifier.
Step 15 – Update the ASTR screen
Step 16 – Access SREP
· Enter an end date on registration priorities for the student
o The end date should be the date prior to the current date
Step 17 – Update SREP
Step 18 – If this involves a multi-institutional student, notify all institutions that student was enrolled at so active programs can be inactivated.
Supplemental Information:
BOR Agenda item from June 26th, 2008: Dr. Shekleton presented a proposal to modify current BOR policy, insuring a fit with state law (see content below). The revised BOR policy (2:3) is available at this link (page 9):
http://www.sdbor.edu/policy/2-Academic_Affairs/documents/2-3.pdf