Faculty & Staff COVID-19 Resources

Student Health Services receives a weekly report of cases of non-compliance that occurred during the previous week from the AUCC data analyst. The report includes all students who have tested during the previous week through a rapid or PCR test. As of Nov 1, Student Health Services trained the contact tracers to compare the list of students tested with the total roster of students. Contact Tracers contact students out of compliance as well as report those students to the Associate VP of Student Affairs to enforce consequences.  

• Compliance for rapid and PCR testing varies weekly and ranges between 43-50 percent.
• Weekly compliance for PCR randomized testing is higher ranging between 61-65 percent
• The six-week PCR testing following fall break was at 73%.  

Note that the contact tracing protocol has evolved with changing CDC guidelines. Thus, everyone in the classroom was considered a close contact at the beginning of the semester, when a student tested positive because CDC defined “someone who was less than 6 feet away from infected person” as a close contact at that time. All students in the class quarantined in their room (vaccinated) or in Laura Spelman (unvaccinated) regardless of identified proximity to the positive student.

Later in the semester, protocols were refined to mirror the guidelines updated by CDC that a close contact is “someone who was less than 6 feet away from infected person” “for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period." There were cases when a student may be in a classroom and based on seating, would not have been in close contact with everyone in the class, therefore, the entire class would not be required to quarantine.

Additionally, CDC has indicated that correct and consistent mask use is a critical step that people can take to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.

There are a limited number of performance type classes, which may include some or all students that are unmasked (ie Glee Club).

If an individual is COVID-19 positive and was unmasked during a class, it is most likely that the entire class will be considered as close contacts and will be required to quarantine and undergo additional testing.

(See here for CDC Guidelines)

Because each disability is different, accommodations will vary and provided based on individual need. If an employee is unable to undergo COVID-19 testing or unable to access the testing site due to a medical condition or disability, they should contact the Manager of Benefits Services at dmack9@spelman.edu directly for assistance.

One hundred public address systems, which consist of a handheld microphone, a lapel microphone and a portable speaker will be distributed to faculty. One PA system will go into each of the 88 classrooms that we have listed on our roster, after the STS team validates the PA system functioning. STS will then have training sessions for faculty and in-classroom documentation on the use of each PA system. There will be an additional 12 PA systems that are available on request.

The Etrieve form is in place in the mySpelman portal and will be up through the end of the Spring 2022 semester. (see here: In-person Waiver Form)

The guidelines for maintaining research and scholarly production continuity with Covid safety guidelines are available from the website of Office of Research, Innovation and Collaboration (see here: Covid-19 Guidelines for Scholarly and Creative Projects)