While fully vaccinated students won’t encounter difficulties registering for Spring 2022 courses, students seeking to get approved exemptions are being encouraged to register for online Spring 2022 courses after the exemption form options for them were delayed.
Delta College published exemption forms on its website for employees during the second week of this month, but this option wasn’t made available to students until Oct. 14, one day before the Oct. 15 deadline for students and employees to show proof of vaccination or approved exemptions.
“Unfortunately it took more time than expected for the process to go through legal review, which was a necessary step to launch the student exemptions,” Director of Communications and Outreach Alex Breitler said in an email response to The Collegian.
Delta College said that any student who hasn’t uploaded their vaccination status or has an approved exemption by the deadline are subject to registration delays.
While the Oct. 15 deadline has already passed, the college assures registration is still open to all students regardless of vaccination status and will still be able to upload proof of vaccination or get an exemption.
“We certainly understand that this can cause stress and anxiety as students are planning for spring registration. It’s important to remember that all students will be able to register for online classes regardless of their vaccination status,” said Breitler.
Even though priority registration has already begun, students can still complete the vaccination/exemption process before the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester in January.
Students wanting an exemption, however, are likely to face delays as the process is lengthy and approval is an uncertainty.
“It could take up to 14 days for an exemption to be approved. Please be advised that making an exemption request is not a guarantee of approval, and the college reserves the right to request additional information,” said Breitler.
For this reason, Delta is recommending to those students wanting exemptions to register for online classes until the process is completed.
“Some students may be in a position where their exemption request has not yet been approved when their registration date arrives. We recommend they sign up for online classes in case their exemption is not approved. If their exemption is approved, they can then adjust their spring schedule by signing up for in-person or hybrid classes depending on availability,” said Breitler.