August 26, 2020

Moving Towards First Day of Classes, Limited Campus Access, Ongoing Testing and Reporting

As we look forward to the first day of classes next Monday, Aug. 31, Bowie State University is making every effort to create and maintain a safe learning and working environment for our students, faculty and staff. Baseline testing of new and returning residential students will conclude this Friday. Students with in-person classes, who did not come to campus for testing, must upload COVID 19 test confirmation immediately to the Wellness Center patient portal. The test confirmation should demonstrate testing occurring prior to Aug. 25. Any students without testing confirmation may not arrive to campus to attend in-person classes.

Limited Campus Access

Beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, the campus will move to an enhanced access management protocol that limits faculty, staff and students’ access to the university to only those who have submitted negative test results.

Teleworking employees who want to come to campus for any reason must be tested in advance. Employees should report COVID-19 test results to Human Resources at covid-19results@bowiestate.edu. Free testing sites are available in Prince George’s County and around the state.

• Maryland Testing Sites: The state maintains a regularly updated online testing site locator that provides times of operation and requirements for each location.
• Nationwide Testing Sites: Visit your state or local health department’s website for testing locations.

Ongoing Testing and Reporting

The university will resume testing of students and employees after the Labor Day holiday beginning with the following schedule:

• Sept. 8 – 11: Campus residential students and all other students with in-person classes
• Week of Sept. 14: Employees and students taking all online classes

 

Throughout the semester, the university will continue repeated sample testing of residential students each week as surveillance to detect for the presence of COVIC-19 within the campus community.

An overview of university testing and any positive results will be reported weekly on a new COVID-19 Testing Data web page. This page will be updated every Monday.

The challenges of spikes in COVID-19 positive tests that many institutions are struggling to manage should strengthen our collective efforts at BSU to remain vigilant in wearing masks, washing hands and staying six feet apart. We know that these three simple things are a strong defense against spread of the virus. Please review the BSU Health and Safety Protocols for additional guidance and resources.

We are looking forward to an exciting and productive fall semester. As always, if you have questions, please email covid19@bowiestate.edu