Safe Campus Guide (COVID-19)

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

As of November 12, Delaware County is 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

We tested all OWU students as they returned to campus this fall, and we will continue testing a random sampling of students, as well as students in higher-risk groups such as student-athletes in contact sports, each week throughout the semester.

You can see statistics on student COVID-19 testing on OWU's Testing Dashboard. Results of the weekly tests will be posted by noon each Monday.

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

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.

Safe Campus Guide (COVID-19)

Alert Level

Testing Dashboard

OWU Safe Campus Plan

OWU Safe Campus Videos

Our Bishop Responsibilities – We Are OWU

WE ARE OWU Pledge

Please Report Unsafe Behavior

Explore the Safe Campus Guide

Safe Campus Updates

Athletics Update

Care Coordinators

CARES Act Report

First Class

CARES Act Report