| Oct. 7, 2020: Weekly Digest
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- Surveillance Testing: Students Who Live On-Campus: UNC is launching a COVID-19 surveillance testing program for students who live in university housing starting Tuesday, Oct. 13. This is part of the university’s multi-pronged strategy to mitigate and monitor the spread of COVID-19. The purpose of this testing program is to allow the university to monitor and address real-time trends and prevalence and make timely decisions on intervention and response.
This surveillance testing means that samples of students will be selected and tested for COVID-19 each week, regardless of whether they have a known exposure or are showing symptoms of COVID-19. This allows UNC to make inferences about the level of spread in the student residential population and identify asymptomatic cases for isolation. Each week, approximately 25% of the population living in university housing will be selected for testing.
Selected students will receive an email from Housing and Residential Education with detailed information on testing dates, locations and required information to complete before arriving at a testing site. Students living on campus are encouraged to complete the information and test during their assigned group test week. UNC will randomly assign students to one of four groups for testing. Each group will be tested over the next four weeks in hopes that all students living on campus will be administered a surveillance test. Those students who are selected and receive an email should NOT forward it to others as all students who live on campus will eventually receive their own email that includes a personalized link to the COVID-19 Surveillance Test Form.
Results will be emailed to the student's UNC Bearmail account with a telephone follow-up for any positive results. It is important that students check their Bearmail and answer their phone when a call is from a medical provider or health services representative.
Surveillance testing is not intended for those who are currently experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, or have been exposed to novel coronavirus, you should self-quarantine per CDC guidelines for 14 days and call the Student Health Center to schedule an individual appointment time for testing.
- UNC COVID Numbers: UNC has completed the first six weeks of the academic year, and planning that took place over the summer has been effective in managing COVID-19’s impacts on campus. The choices individuals are making and the responsibility they're taking on campus has made a difference. However, everyone must continue to do their part and continue wearing masks, social distancing and taking all necessary precautions. COVID-19 test results are returning as fast as one to three days at the UNC Student Health Center:
- New positive cases with an on-campus impact from Sept. 30-Oct. 6: 7
- Total number of new COVID tests administered through the Student Health Center: 58
- Total number of surveillance tests administered on student-athletes: 66
- Number of positive cases: 0
- Total number of COVID active/resolved cases diagnosed from the first day of the fall semester, Aug. 24, to Oct. 8 with an on-campus impact: 42
(UNC only includes confirmed cases through which other members of the university community may have been directly exposed to COVID-19)
- Number of the designated isolation/quarantine rooms being utilized on campus: 12 of the 80 rooms
(Not everyone in these rooms has tested positive for COVID-19 at this time as some may be quarantining as a preventative measure.)
- Definitions for "isolation" and "quarantine" per the CDC:
- Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease (a confirmed COVID-19 case) from people who aren't sick.
- Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to someone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 to see if they become symptomatic and/or test positive.
Learn more on the Health Alerts webpage.
If you’re symptomatic or concerned that you may have COVID-19, please don’t physically come to the UNC Student Health Center. Call the center ahead of time at 970-351-2412 so that staff can prepare.
- Mask Up, Bears: UNC's Mask Policy states that all UNC requires students, employees and visitors to wear face coverings at all times while in public or shared spaces on campus. Students who are studying together in groups, watching Zoom classes together or other scenarios must wear masks when engaging in such activities.
- Masks are required whenever you are indoors in public spaces on campus — that is, whenever you are in any space other than your own residence hall room or a private office.
- Masks are also required outdoors any time you are around other people — even when those other people are roommates, family members or loved ones who you live with.
- We should all maintain appropriate distance from one another, at least six feet, even when we are outdoors.
- Spring Semester Planning: UNC is concluding spring 2021 semester planning, and the spring semester schedule is now available for viewing. Provost Mark Anderson, Assistant Vice President for Student Success Stephanie Torrez, University 101 Director Angela Vaughan, Associate Vice President for Administration Blaine Nickeson and others provided information for and answered questions from faculty in a forum on Friday, Oct. 2, regarding protocols for increasing the number of in-person and hybrid courses available in the spring. Plans for the fall 2021 semester are also in the works.
A survey was sent to students asking them about their fall semester experiences with an oversampling of first-year students. This information will be used to better understand the positives and negatives they’re experiencing so far. The information will be integrated into trainings from IDD and CETL and give faculty a better idea of how to prepare for teaching in the spring.
UNC’s Enrollment Management team has been reaching out to students who had confirmed that they were going to attend UNC in the spring semester but then either deferred or didn’t register. Over the past two weeks, the team has also sent out the first acceptances for the fall 2021 semester, and there’s been an uptick in the participation of prospective students and their families in campus tours. That's going to increase and become more prevalent as admissions increase for fall 2021.
- State Reporting Policy: Generally, when two or more cases occur in a 28-day window in the same facility or program, the state of Colorado will disclose the general location, status, case counts and dates of those cases in its online publicly accessible Colorado COVID Outbreak Data Chart. The state will publish such data regardless if UNC does or doesn't report any cases to them. All positive case counts and information are required to be reported by health providers. Data in the report are provided by county public health departments to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
- Report a Concern: Campus community members are encouraged to report behaviors that put the health and safety of the campus community at risk, such as those who are not following UNC's Mask Policy. Serious consequences leading to suspension and expulsion could occur for those not following these guidelines.
- Report a Positive Case to UNC: To maintain a safe and healthy environment on UNC's campus, students who test positive for COVID-19 should report their test result to UNC. This can be done through a confidential form in order for contact tracing to begin, which helps contain the potential spread of the virus by notifying individuals who may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Students should use the 'Report a Positive Case' form on the Health Alerts webpage.
The UNC contact-tracing team is immediately notified of anyone who tests positive at the Student Health Center. If students or employees are tested off campus, UNC only finds out if the individual alerts UNC, or if they disclose to the investigator at the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment, or other county health departments, that they're a UNC student or employee. Therefore, it’s very important to disclose a positive test result to those who are conducting contact tracing or via the form. We need everyone to help stop the spread of COVID and keep their fellow Bears safe and healthy.
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Student-Centered Topics- Student Affairs Updates:
- Homecoming and Spirit Week: Homecoming is Oct. 9-11 and will look different this year, but the meaning of Homecoming remains the same. This annual event will feature virtual matchups, social media games, trivia and more. UNC’s virtual Homecoming events allow our community of Bears to engage with each other from the comfort and safety of their spaces. The Homecoming 5K is also virtual this year and will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
During Spirit Week (Oct. 5-9), Bears are encouraged to show their school spirit and join community activities all week leading up to Homecoming weekend (view Spirit Week events (PDF)).
Show off your Bear pride and decorate your residence, office, yard, garage — you name it — in blue and gold. To enter for prizes, take a photo, then tag UNC on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with #UNCHomecoming2020. Winners will be selected for different categories on Monday, Oct. 12.
- LGBTQ+ History Month: October is LGBTQ+ History Month, which came into existence after Rodney Wilson, a Missouri history high school teacher, came out to his class in 1994. After teaching his students about the Holocaust, Wilson shared that he could have been killed for being gay if he had lived during that time. Wilson's vision was to dedicate the month to teaching LGBTQ+ history.
The UNC Gender and Sexuality Resource Center is a great resource for all campus community members and is offering events and activities to celebrate this month (learn more).
- César Chávez Cultural Center 35th Anniversary: Throughout the time that CCCC has been open at UNC, hundreds of Latinx students have gone through the center's doors, graduated and are now giving back to UNC. Plan to participate in the 35th crowdfunding event for the center; your gifts will directly support the center’s Recruitment, Retention, and Educational Fund and Latina Latino Youth Leadership Conference Fund.
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