The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is requiring employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4.
The mandate is a result of an executive order from the Biden administration, requiring vaccination for federal contractors.
Chancellor Mark Mone said the order applies to UWM because it receives federal funding for research projects.
"We are implementing this requirement to comply with federal law," Mone said. "UWM has not chosen this vaccine mandate for our employees."
Some UWM employees have been pushing for a vaccination mandate. Associate professor Nick Fleisher, who leads an advocacy group for faculty, is one of them.
"The reasons for having a mandate are partly about encouraging people to get vaccinated, but it's also to kind of send a signal – a public signal – about the importance of vaccination," Fleisher said. "You can try to stress that by saying how important you think it is, but ultimately actions and policies speak louder."
Eighty-six percent of UWM employees have already provided proof of vaccination, and the number could be higher since about 1,400 haven’t reported their status, according to a university spokesperson. UWM employees are allowed to request a medical or religious exemption.
Student employees are included in the mandate, but students overall are not. UWM already has a high student vaccination rate, at 93%. The school has provided financial and other incentives for students to get the vaccine.
UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson has been resistant to a systemwide vaccination mandate. But he said at a board of regents meeting in November that schools with federal research contracts would comply with the federal order if necessary.
"I will not put the hundreds of millions of federal dollars connected to research that is integral to the mission of our universities at risk," Thompson said.
Thompson noted there are legal challenges to the federal mandate pending.
A UW System spokesperson said Tuesday that only UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison have issued employee vaccine mandates so far.
UWM joins a handful of other local education institutions with vaccine requirements, including Marquette University, Alverno College, and Milwaukee Public Schools.
Editor's note: WUWM is a service of UW-Milwaukee.
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