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Return to the Hilltop: Fall 2021 UPDATE
August 6, 2021
Dear Hilltop Community:
Just a few months ago, we were still finishing up spring term. We felt that normalcy was on its way back. The City of Birmingham had just lifted its mask mandate. The positivity rate for COVID was about 3% for Jefferson County and close to 0% on our campus. We started last fall as one of the only colleges in the Southeast where our students were back on campus and more than two-thirds of our classes were face to face, and with only 10% fully online. We accomplished this when others did not try by following strict protocols which included testing, contact tracing, and quarantining.
We started fall term with more than 10% of our students testing positive. By November, our positivity rates were below 2.5% and remained below 0.5% for the entire spring term. Our protocols allowed us to practice and compete in athletics; to perform plays and musicals and have choral events. It was not the year we wanted. Nevertheless, it was a year when our students were back, our activities were available, and our professors and students worked together in person. We were able to achieve the Birmingham-Southern experience while masked, socially distanced, and sometimes quarantined. We finished the year looking forward to a vaccinated world with only endemic COVID outbreaks. In other words, we looked forward to a fall of “normalcy.”
Unfortunately, we will not get that sense of “normalcy” just yet. The highly contagious Delta variant which wreaked havoc in India and the United Kingdom is spreading quickly across our state. Here is a graph showing an exponential increase in daily positive cases. Prepared by our friends at UAB, who have been a great help to us throughout the pandemic, this graph gives us a visual image of the rapid spread of the virus in Alabama over the prior three weeks.
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Based on inputs such as the current rate of growth of the spread and the vaccination level in Alabama, doctors at UAB have created a model to predict the most likely spread of the virus over the next 12 weeks. What this model shows us is that we haven’t come close to experiencing the spread of this variant yet.
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No model is perfect, of course. However, as human beings, our tendency is to assume that the present will continue. And perhaps when we do think of change, we think that the rate of change will be constant, and change will be linear. Models help us understand better when change is exponential. As shown on this graph, the UAB model leverages the data from the previous outbreaks in the UK and India when the Delta variant first arrived. Despite their limitations, models like this one are more likely to be correct than the status quo. The UAB model predicts that 568,393 residents of Alabama could contract the Delta variant of COVID-19 between now and the end of October. At the Delta variant’s peak, 4% of the population could be infected and a total of 19% of the population could need to be isolated or quarantined.
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To put these numbers into perspective, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Alabama to date is 592,417 (ADPH COVID Dashboard, August 4, 2021). This implies that the number of cases to date could double over the next three months. We hope UAB is wrong. I am sure that UAB hopes that their models overstate the risk. In my experience during this pandemic, the predictions coming out of UAB have usually been right.
Regardless of the exact numbers projected, it is our duty, based on what we know, to do what we can to protect our campus as students return. In addition, as with last year, we will make every effort to have every activity possible and available including all classes being face to face and a regular athletic season. To do this, however, we will need to follow the same principles we followed last year. We will test frequently; we will contact trace; we will quarantine. Leveraging a full academic year of experience, our protocols will be more specific. We will try to limit protocols as much as possible.
The following are the protocols for fall:
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Due to the recent surge of COVID-19 and updated CDC guidance, BSC will require face coverings inside campus buildings – regardless of vaccine status – effective Friday, August 6.
You may remove your mask inside if:
· You are alone in a private office or cubicle.
· You are in your residence hall room.
· You are actively eating or drinking and can maintain at least six feet of social distance.
· You are in a small group (5 or fewer) and 100% of the group is vaccinated.
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Regular Testing
All eligible students will be tested weekly. Eligible faculty and staff will be tested monthly. The eligibility of testing will be the same as spring 2021. All eligible athletes who are in season will be tested three times a week. Failure to show up for COVID-19 testing will lead to disciplinary actions, including loss of access to online resources and required departure from campus until negative test results are provided.
Eligible for regular testing: all BSC students, faculty, and staff unless:
1. They have chosen to verify their vaccination status by uploading it to COVID-19 Vaccination Form. (Please upload information if you have begun but not yet completed a two-dose vaccination so that we can plan effectively for testing.)
2. They have proof of COVID-19 positive test within the last 90 days. Fill out the COVID-19 Positive Form.
Antibody tests will not be accepted as exceptions. JCDH and the FDA do not recommend antibody tests, as there is not enough data done on them. “Be aware that a positive result from an antibody test does not mean you have a specific amount of immunity or protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection.” (FDA)
Symptomatic Testing
If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms – regardless of vaccine status – you must check with Health Services and/or get a PCR test. You must quarantine until you receive the test results. If the results are positive, you will isolate for 10 days. If the results are negative, you can return immediately to campus life.
Exposure Testing
Unvaccinated students who have been exposed to COVID-19 must check with Health Services and get a PCR test.
Vaccinated students who have been exposed to COVID-19 will not need to quarantine but should receive a test 3-5 days after exposure or as soon as onset of any symptoms.
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We anticipate that Healthcheck will be used again, but only to report symptoms, positive test results outside of our BSC clinic, or exposure to positive individuals. It will not be used as a daily report of your current health status.
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Like last year, we will employ contact tracers to support those who are exposed or who contracted the virus. Contact tracers will determine if a member of the BSC community has been exposed.
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If you test positive for COVID-19 – regardless of vaccine status – you must isolate for 10 days from the day of the positive test.
Unvaccinated students, faculty, and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days from the day of exposure. Like spring term protocols, we will continue to test quarantined students, faculty, and staff on day 5 or 6, and if they test negative and are asymptomatic for a minimum of 24 hours, they may be released on day 10.
Vaccinated students, faculty, and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 will not need to quarantine if they remain asymptomatic but will be required to be tested 3-5 days after exposure or as soon as onset of any symptoms. In this case, you should also wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days following exposure or until your test result is negative. (New CDC Guidance)
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Classrooms have returned to the pre-pandemic layout. We will require social distancing in the Caf and other indoor food service venues when masks come off for eating. “Close contact is defined as being within 3 feet of a positive person for greater than 15 minutes without either person wearing a mask. This is calculated over a 24-hour period.” (UAB)
To ensure appropriate distancing for group gatherings, we will require approval for any indoor gathering of over 30 people.
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Our goal is to return to as much normalcy as possible. All classes are in person. We expect our students to be able to attend as we would any academic term. We expect our students to take the proper precautions to minimize their exposure to the virus. We are adopting the same policy as the University of Alabama:
“Faculty teaching in-person classes are not required to provide online options due to COVID quarantine or isolation, absent necessary accommodations. Missing up to two weeks of class can have a major impact on academic experiences and potentially affect grades.” (UA)
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Compliance with these protocols to promote the health and safety of our community is required for everyone. Failure to comply with these required measures represents a violation of our student conduct codes and employment agreements. Lying to College officials or on relevant forms is a violation of the Honor Code. Referral to appropriate offices will occur for follow up with individuals who violate these expectations.
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Our guest policy will remain the same as the updated Return to the Hilltop: Summer protocols. Guests must be sponsored and registered by a BSC community member before they can visit campus.
The registration form is found on the BSC website, under Gingko Go, under “Hilltop Guest Registration.” A sponsor must accompany all guests on campus.
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BSC strongly encourages vaccination against COVID-19. With this Delta variant, we are seeing that more and more young people become seriously ill from this virus. The vaccine makes the virus less transmittable and may prevent serious illness if you get infected once you're vaccinated. By getting vaccinated, you can also help protect your family, friends, and the BSC community.
We will provide free vaccinations for anyone who would like to receive them. The projected vaccination rate of our campus is between 65% and 70%. We will be able to drop protocols and restrictions only if the vaccination rate is significantly higher and the public positivity rate of the Delta variant in Jefferson County lower. Our goal is to have 85% of campus vaccinated. Regardless of what happens in the world around us, the higher our vaccination rate, the more our lives on campus can return to normal day to day.
The fact remains that the best way to ensure we have a safe campus is to encourage vaccination. Moreover, those who are not vaccinated should expect increased protocols. Borrowing words from our friends in Tuscaloosa:
“Pursuant to state law, BSC will not mandate the COVID vaccine as a condition of attendance. However, unvaccinated individuals remain subject to increased public health guidelines.” (UA)
Because vaccinating our community is so important to its safety, we may from time to time offer incentives designed to encourage people to become vaccinated as our friends in Auburn have already done:
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Once students have returned, we will post to our COVID web page a weekly update on the student positivity rate reflecting random testing and symptomatic testing. In addition, reflecting continuing conversation with experts including the Jefferson County Department of Health, we will share our views on the risks of the spread of the virus in the world around us. Sharing information with you on a regular basis is an important part of our effort to keep the campus safe. Moreover, as we adjust protocols which we will inevitably do, we want you to know why. As always, for questions or concerns, please email: covid19questions@bsc.edu.
I regret that we find ourselves in this position again. I wish we did not have to follow any of these protocols. But our duty is to keep our campus as safe as possible while keeping it as vibrant as possible. With these protocols, I believe we can accomplish both as we did last year. Moreover, if our situation changes significantly with respect to the level of vaccination on our campus and a lower prevalence in our community, we will reduce these protocols. We will not wait for the end of the term.
Thank you for your patience. We look forward to seeing our students back on our campus in the coming weeks.
Forward, Ever,
Daniel Coleman
President
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