As required by commonwealth law, students living in a university-owned or operated residence halls or apartments will need to have the vaccination for meningococcal meningitis before arriving on campus, or they will need to sign a waiver stating that they do not wish to have the vaccination. The waiver form is provided online by the Office of Housing and Residence Life for students at the time they complete a contract for a campus residence hall/apartment. Questions or information concerning this law and housing requirements can be directed to 724-357-2696.
Completing the waiver does not prohibit a student from having the vaccination at a later date. The waiver provides evidence that students have been provided information about meningococcal meningitis and about the availability of the vaccine, but have elected to move into the residence hall/apartment without having been vaccinated for the disease. The full text of the immunization policy is below.
Immunization Policy
IUP requires documentation from all new freshmen and transfer students of all immunization dates. This includes the following vaccines: measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus-toxoid, diphtheria, and polio. See additional information, below, regarding immunization requirements for students living in university-owned residences.
Documentation can take the following forms:
- Dates of vaccinations by the health care provider who gave them
- Date of illness with the disease diagnosed by a physician
- Serum antibody level as determined by a blood test
Individuals who were born after 1956 should receive a measles immunization before entering college. This may be a second measles immunization or the first vaccine within six months of entering college. A tetanus immunization must also be updated every ten years.
Additionally, the College and University Student Vaccination Act requires that all students, before moving into university-owned and -operated residence halls or apartments, must receive the vaccination for meningococcal meningitis or sign a document stating that the student has chosen to be exempted from receiving the vaccination for religious or other reasons. All residents are required to acknowledge, before moving into campus rooms/apartments, that they are in compliance with the law. This statement of compliance with the College and University Student Vaccination Act will be provided on line from the Office of Housing and Residence Life. The vaccination required is the A, C, Y, W-135 vaccine.
Questions or requests for information about exemptions to this policy should be directed to the Health Service at 724-357-6475.