Presidential Health Directive Update
Dear University Community:
This email serves as notification of a newly-issued Presidential Health Directive that supports Interim Policy 44.102 and stipulates appropriate requirements to allow the University to respond to matters including transmittable disease, epidemics, pandemics, and other threats to the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and local communities.
The Interim Policy 44.102 allows the President, in consultation with the University’s Chief Medical Affairs Officer, to establish specific health requirements for University community members as necessary to mitigate current community health risks. The first five Community Health Directives were issued on August 26, 2020 and remain in effect. The following Community Health Directive will be added to that list and is effective immediately for all students, faculty, and staff until further notice.
Surveillance Testing
Ohio University has partnered with CVS Health to develop an asymptomatic testing program for students contacted by email and given instruction on how to schedule a COVID-19 test. Once contacted, the student is required to schedule and complete a test per the provided instructions. It is the intention of the University that all students with a presence on campus will receive an email to be tested at least once during the course of any given semester.
Students who fail to schedule or take a test when notified may be prohibited from attending face-to-face classes, accessing in-person campus services, or entering campus buildings until a COVID-19 test is completed. Students who refuse to be tested will be required to withdraw from face-to-face classes for the remainder of the semester and complete their classes remotely, unless granted an exemption per University process. Students living in residence halls who fail to comply with required testing shall be subject to the terms of their University Housing and Culinary Services Contract.
Additionally, asymptomatic testing will be available for University employees on a voluntary basis. Employees will be notified by email when they are on a list to obtain a test.
When taken in accordance with University instructions in the notification email, the test will be provided at no cost to students, faculty, and staff.
Thank you for embracing OHIO’s culture of care. We ask each member of our community to do their part to keep one another safe in the midst of the worldwide public health crisis.
Relevant Health Resources