The Department of Student Health and Counseling requires students to fill out a daily four-question health screening for COVID-19 since the semester began. Although the majority of students do complete their daily screenings, a lack of response by some has led to restrictions being implemented.
Principal Student Health Administrator Megan Syfrett said in an email statement to The Lamron that only about 58 percent of students sent the survey are completing it daily. She said the purpose of the survey is the keep the campus community safe.
“If the students answer yes to any questions … they are placed in either an isolation status or quarantine status. A health provider from our office contacts the student to follow up based on their answers. We can get to them sooner and get them in to be seen and tested,” Syfrett said.
On Oct. 22, all students received an email from Syfrett about the importance of filling out the screenings due to the lack of response. The email stated that “a hold may be placed on [a student’s] account which will prevent registering for or withdrawing from classes, seeing grades or changing grades courses to P/F and requesting transcripts.”
If students have never, or have gone a long period without filling out the health screening, a hold was placed on their record, “which for the most part prevents registration,” Leonard Sancilio Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Community said.
“If you have 500 people who don’t do it, one person has to track it and it’s just so labor-intensive. So, we’re working with CIT to see if we can automate some processes,” Sancilio said.
Both Sancilio and Syfrett said they are hoping to have a more robust system in place in the spring.
“Next semester we hope to have a revamped version. Should that version still show a high percentage of noncompliance, we would discuss restricting access,” Syfrett said.
According to Syfrett, her department brings in students as a result of the surveys. If they do not have accurate data representative of the student body, it is a challenge to track the health and wellbeing of students and who they may have been in contact with.
“The sooner we can be notified that someone might be sick the sooner we could put them in a situation where they don't get other people sick,” Sancilio said. “While the overwhelming majority do [complete the surveys], it only takes one to not comply with all the policies that could become a super spreader.”