COVID-19 Safe Campus Guide, Spring 2021

Each of us in the OWU community has a great responsibility. If we follow campus guidelines and act with care and empathy, we can create a campus environment where OWU students, faculty, and staff can work, study, live, learn, and interact in ways that fulfill our educational mission and protect the health, safety, and well-being of us all.

Alert Level

Since November 12, 2020, Delaware County has been listed as a Red Level 3 on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. The state system includes four levels, with Level 4 being the most urgent.

With a Red Level 3 designation, Delaware County is considered to be in a period of “very high exposure and spread,” and residents and visitors are encouraged to “limit activities as much as possible.”

As part of the designation, people are instructed to follow these public health protections:

• Decrease in-person interactions with others.
• Consider necessary travel only.
• Limit attending gatherings of any number.
• Continue to follow the protections outlined by less-restrictive Yellow Level 1 and Orange Level 2 designations, including:
  • Conduct a daily health check and stay home if symptomatic.
  • Maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet from non-household members.
  • Wear face coverings in public, especially when physical distancing is hard to maintain.
  • Avoid travel to high-risk areas.
  • Follow good hygiene including washing hands frequently, using hand sanitizer, avoiding touching your face, and covering coughs and sneezes.
  • Avoid contact with those considered high-risk.

Learn more here about the levels and their complete list of public health requirements.

Testing Dashboard

As students return to the OWU campus for the 2021 spring semester, everyone will receive a rapid-response antigen test. Results will be ready in about 15 minutes, and anyone who tests positive will then receive a PCR test and will be isolated until results come back from that test (usually by the next day).

With the antigen tests, we will be able to immediately isolate anyone before they go to their residence hall or room and before they mingle with classmates.

As in the fall, about 200 students will be selected randomly each week for PCR tests. Results will be posted each week on OWU's Testing Dashboard. In addition, student-athletes and coaches will be tested prior to competitions, in line with NCAA guidelines.

OWU Safe Campus Plan

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic challenges us. Can we recreate a vibrant OWU campus for learning and living while protecting the individuals in our community from the coronavirus?

To create the framework for this new campus life, OWU's Safe Campus Opening Task Force developed the Safe Opening Plan in consultation with public health experts in Delaware County and at The Ohio State University, and with reference to state/federal guidance and emerging industry standards. The plan addresses how OWU will return to campus, monitor individuals' health, contain the virus if it's detected, and prepare plans for major changes if they are needed.

The plan is explained in this website.

However, this plan will work only as well as we all make it work. Any weak link can put the campus at risk. Each of us – students, faculty, staff, visitors – is responsible for the health of everyone around us. The following mnemonic can help us all remember our day-to-day responsibilities.

OWU Safe Campus Videos

Our Bishop Responsibilities – We Are OWU

Wear your face covering

Evaluate your health daily

Avoid unnecessary travel

Remain six feet apart

Engage your peers in protecting our community

Observe university group size limits

Wash your hands frequently

Use kindness

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WE ARE OWU Pledge

All students, faculty, and staff who will be learning or working on campus are asked to make the following commitment to keep our community healthy:

Protecting the health and safety of our OWU and local Delaware community is the responsibility of every member of the community. I recognize that my actions and choices have a significant health impact on others around me and can contribute to the success of the 2020-2021 academic year. With this understanding, I commit to the following for the benefit of myself and my community:

• I will put the health of others first, recognizing that others may have more vulnerable health conditions than I have.
• I will follow all university COVID-19 safety requirements, including wearing face coverings, washing and sanitizing my hands frequently, maintaining six feet between individuals, and not being in unauthorized groups larger than 50 people.
• I will monitor myself daily for the symptoms of COVID-19. If displaying symptoms such as fever of 100.4 F (38 C) or higher, dry cough, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell, I will immediately report these symptoms to the Student Health Center (for students) or the Human Resources Office (for employees), provide them approval to share the information with necessary university officials, and avoid contact with other members of the community.
• I will comply with testing protocols established by the university and will cooperate fully with contact tracing efforts and any necessary quarantine and isolation procedures.
• I will discourage unsafe and unsanitary behaviors in others when I see them. Options I have to discourage such behaviors include speaking with the individual with whom I have a concern and/or notifying resident advisors, my supervisor, or Public Safety.
• I will be kind to others, particularly when they remind me of safety protocols or when I am reminding others of them.

Please Report Unsafe Behavior

If you have concerns about unsafe situations or unsafe behavior on or off campus, please send a message to covid19@owu.edu.

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Explore the Safe Campus Guide

1. OWU Expectations
2. Academic Dates & Learning Guidelines
   Academic Calendar Changes | Remote Learning Approvals | Travel Limitations
3. Students Returning to Campus
   Spring 2021 Check-In Process | COVID-19 Screening | Housing Application
4. Faculty & Staff: Safe Work Guidelines
   Policies and Protocols for All Employees | Workspace Cleaning | Communication | Limits on Campus Events and Group Sizes | Travel Limitations | Contact Tracing | Visit Guidelines | Faculty-Specific Guidelines | Staff-Specific Guidelines
5. Monitoring Your Health
   Daily Self-Assessments | Ongoing Viral Testing | Isolation and Quarantine
6. Daily Campus Life
   Physical Distancing and Face Coverings | Facility Safety Measures | Dining Safety | Residential Living | Limits on Campus Events and Group Sizes | Travel Limitations | Contact Tracing | Transportation Protocols
7. Safe Athletics
8. Campus Visitor Guidelines
9. CARES Act Reporting