Campus Community's Safety and Well-Being

Medical and public health community experts advise limiting the spread of COVID-19 by combining hygiene practices. These include expanded cleaning, social distancing, testing, rapid contact tracing, quarantining, and isolating impacted individuals. The following practices are proposed as the campus community returns for the fall semester, with the understanding that modified and additional efforts will be implemented as the virus and knowledge about it evolves.

Health and Well-Being Practices

1. Require each member of the University community to stay home if diagnosed with COVID-19 or if a household member is diagnosed with COVID-19, and strongly recommend that employees who are ill remain home.
2. Continue to develop and update protocols to rapidly identify and isolate those with the virus, as well as quarantine individuals who had close contact.
   1. Protocols developed and refined by Facilities Management, Human Resources, Student Health Services and University Housing Services in collaboration with the McLean County Health Department
3. Face coverings will be the norm on campus, consistent with the Restore Illinois Phase 4 guidance.
   1. Workgroup on face coverings formed involving faculty and staff.  Face Covering Procedure drafted, reviewed and approved. View Face Covering Procedure
   2. Face coverings with a Reggie logo were purchased for every employee and every student.  The face coverings are being distributed through departments and units as employees return to work on campus.  Students residing in the residence halls and university apartments will receive their face coverings when they check-in to their residence.  Students residing off-campus will receive their face coverings through the mail.
4. Configure campus areas to facilitate social distancing (e.g., offices, common areas, meeting/gathering spaces, classrooms/labs, dining venues, elevators, etc.).
   1. Facilities Planning and Construction engaged an outside architectural firm to assist the University in measuring all campus classrooms, evaluating how the classrooms could be reconfigured to accommodate physical distancing, and provide plans to reconfigure classrooms for physical distancing.  Initial results indicate classrooms could not exceed 30% of current seating in typical classrooms on campus.
   2. Facilities Planning and Construction, Environmental Health and Safety, and Facilities Management are working with departments and units to evaluate appropriate physical distancing in work areas and make adjustments in these settings.
5. Maintain appropriate social distancing between people and within learning and work areas, regardless of face coverings.
6. Provide signage, barriers, floor markings, and other measures where appropriate.
   1. Signage about physical distancing, wearing face coverings, hand washing and other personal safety practices have been posted around campus.  The educational campaign will continue throughout the fall with posters updated as situations dictate.
   2. Barriers have been installed in many locations on campus and will continue to be installed in classroom and office settings.
   3. Floor and furniture markings indicating physical distancing are on order and will be installed when received.
7. Ensure ready access to personal-protective equipment to employees as required.
   1. Personal-protective equipment was purchased and is being distributed to employees as needed to perform their duties.
8. Provide reasonable accommodation and leave options that reflect the most current guidance.
   1. July 7, 2020 email to all faculty and staff from Human Resources provides latest information on work from home options and leave options.
   2. A new policy, 3.1.49 COVID-19 Related Leave of Absence policy was developed and approved. The new policy addressed situations when an employee may wish to postpone their return but the basis for that postponement does not qualify the employee for a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA, see policies 3.1.12a and 3.1.48).
9. Continue to provide in-person, telehealth, and telemental health services.
   1. Student Health Services and Student Counseling Services will continue to provide in-person and telehealth and telemental health services in the fall.
10. Provide faculty and staff with culturally responsive resources and information that promotes emotional wellness
11. Increase building fresh air minimums from 10 percent to 40 percent.
    1. Where building management practices allow, building fresh air minimums have been increased from 10 percent to 40 percent.
12. Continue to use hospital-grade HVAC air filters within facilities where the air handler will allow.
    1. HVAC air filters are being regularly replaced with new hospital-grade air filters across campus when current air handlers allow for use of these filters.
13. Deactivate water fountains and only enable touchless water bottle filling stations
    1. Drinking water fountains have been marked out-of-order across the campus and informational signs placed on the water fountains.

Cleaning Practices

Facilities Management employees will continue to perform routine cleaning of designated buildings, including high-traffic areas (classrooms, restrooms, lobbies, lounges, breakrooms, hallways, etc.), on a regularly scheduled basis. The task of disinfecting these high-traffic areas, as well as high-touch surfaces (e.g., doorknobs, door push plates, light switches, elevator buttons, handrails, and horizontal surfaces) has been added to the regular cleaning process. New cleaning technology, such as electrostatic sprayers, are being added to the cleaning protocols. This product is proven effective against COVID-19 and will provide a more efficient way to clean specific areas of campus. The campus community will continue to be responsible for keeping personal workspace clean throughout the day, including using disinfecting wipes on shared surfaces and objects (e.g., desk, chair, phone, keyboard, cabinet/file drawer handles, etc.) to help reduce the spread of germs on campus. The following steps are recommended.

1. Keep the building hand sanitizer stations located in the main entry of buildings filled to the extent product sourcing allows. Hand sanitizer is at least 60 percent alcohol as recommended by the CDC.
   1. More than 200 sanitizer stations located in campus buildings have been inspected and filled with hand sanitizer.
   2. The hand sanitizer stations are being refilled as needed.
2. Publish a map of currently available hand sanitizer locations.
3. Provide wipes, sanitizer, disposable face coverings, and additional safety items, in collaboration with EHS, to departments to the extent the product sourcing allows
   1. An initial supply of disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer has been distributed to departments and units across campus.
   2. A small supply of disposable face coverings may be requested from Facilities Management to provide to guests who fail to wear a face covering
   3. Cleaning supplies will be available in classrooms.

Screening, Testing, and Contact Tracing

Readily available testing and contact tracing are essential for the return to campus, as they allow for the rapid identification and containment of new cases. Campus personnel continue to meet with McLean County public health officials, testing providers, and other partners to develop robust on-campus capabilities in these three areas. The following guidelines will be followed.

1. Conduct temperature checks/screenings of employees where appropriate and when recommended in certain settings (e.g. clinicals, dining operations, athletics, potentially others).
   1. Faculty and staff are expected to conduct a daily symptom and contact checking self-assessment.  If the self-assessment results indicate a COVID-19 test is recommended, then the employee should contact their health care provider or the community-based testing site for a COVID-19 test.  Those testing positive must report those results to Human Resources.  Additional information about the self-assessment will be sent to employees.
   2. Any employee testing positive will be required to isolate at home for a period of time directed by the local health department (generally 14 days)
2. Consider requiring student, faculty, and staff participation in antigen and/or antibody testing.
   1. While the CDC does not recommend mass testing of students, faculty and staff at the start of the semester, the University recommends all students who will live in the residence halls, attend classes in a campus classroom, or visit any other Illinois State University facility be tested PRIOR to returning to campus.
   2. Any student testing positive prior to arrival on campus will be required to isolate at home for a period of time directed by their local health department (generally 14-days).  ISU will work with any student in isolation or quarantine to ensure they do not fall behind at the beginning of their classes.
   3. Once on campus, all students will be expected to conduct a daily symptom and contact checking self-assessment.  If the self-assessment results indicate a COVID-19 test is recommended, then the student should contact Student Health Services for a COVID-19 test, which can be conducted on campus.
   4. The University continues to explore potential antigen testing of employees and students.
3. Operate an on-campus COVID-19 antigen testing, antibody testing, and/or vaccination administration site for all members of the University community.
   1. Student Health Services has developed the capacity to conduct antigen testing for students who show symptoms of COVID-19.
4. Ramp up capacity to conduct contact tracing.
   1. McLean County Health Department (MCHD) is the primary entity responsible for contact tracing in disease outbreaks and will take the lead on conduct contact tracing but may require SHS assistance with students who become ill. A protocol is already in place for these types of activities between MCHD and Student Health Services.
5. Research feasibility of COVID-19 related apps
   1. Research revealed significant privacy and data security issues with available COVID-19 related apps.