Dec. 15, 2020 – Undergraduate students: an update on our spring semester COVID-19 testing
Dear undergraduate students,
We want to thank you again for a successful fall semester—one that could not have happened without your willingness to follow health and safety protocols. Your participation in our rigorous testing program, as well as physical distancing, mask wearing, following our gatherings policy, washing hands and more helped us slow the spread of COVID-19.
Guided by the lessons we learned this fall, we are updating our spring semester testing program and adjusting our quarantine guidelines based on new CDC guidance. Key components of the undergraduate student spring testing program include:
- No pre-arrival testing
- No prearrival testing will be required before return to campus. Based on the learnings from this fall, we expect students’ highest risk activities prior to returning to campus are likely to be traveling to campus and engaging in social activities before classes begin, so efforts will focus on arrival testing and a shelter in place protocol, described below.
- Arrival testing Jan. 20–25 at the Testing Center
- You will receive an email from the Office of the University Registrar to sign up for your arrival testing time slot by Jan. 14.
- Undergraduate students must have a negative test result to begin in-person activities in the spring.
- Students will shelter in place until they receive a negative test result. Shelter in place means that you must not participate in in-person campus activities, including classes or group activities, until you receive a negative test result.
- Off-campus students should not come to campus at all, other than for testing, until they receive a negative test result.
- Weekly mandatory testing at the Testing Center begins the week of Jan. 31
- Testing days have shifted to Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- You will receive an email from the Office of the University Registrar by Jan. 14 to sign up for a weekly testing time slot.
- You will not receive missed test reminder emails during the spring semester. It is your responsibility to make your test time.
- Students who do not make their weekly testing date and do not make it up will receive a formal warning the week after they missed.
- If a student misses two weeks of tests (scheduled date and makeup date), they will be referred to the Office of Student Accountability, Community Standards, and Academic Integrity.
- Please review the compliance section of the Undergraduate COVID-19 Testing FAQ carefully.
- Positive test samples will now be retested automatically, before you get your test results back, to confirm the positive result. There will no longer be a separate retesting program.
If you have symptoms: You should continue to be tested at the Student Health Center, which is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. If Student Health is closed, call the VUMC COVID-19 hotline at (888) 312-0847 for information about after-hours assessment site availability.
Asymptomatic close contacts will now quarantine for 10 days. This has been updated from the previous 14-day quarantine, per CDC guidance, but comes with additional requirements for days 10 to 14 following exposure.
- For days 10 to 14 after last exposure, Vanderbilt community members identified as close contacts must not unmask at any time in public, including in dining locations, and must wear their mask even in the presence of those in their residence.
- Individuals should eat alone or complete any activities alone that require removing a mask in a private space during those four days.
As a reminder, all individuals should do the following at all times to help slow the spread of COVID-19:
- Perform daily self-monitoring for symptoms using the VandySafe app.
- Immediately self-isolate and contact the Student Health Center for assessment and testing if you develop symptoms.
- Wear a mask, stay at least six feet from others, wash your hands, avoid crowds and off campus high-risk venues, follow the gathering protocols, and take other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Those who receive a COVID-19 vaccination during the spring semester must continue to participate in the testing program and follow all campus protocols, including mask wearing and physical distancing. However, we will re-evaluate if additional public health information is released suggesting that those vaccinated should no longer participate in the periodic testing program.
For more information about our spring semester student testing, quarantine and isolation protocols, visit the Return to Campus website.
Have a wonderful winter break. We look forward to welcoming you back in January.
Susan R. Wente, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Eric Kopstain, Vice Chancellor of the Division of Administration