September 30, 2021

Faculty and Professional Staff Colleagues –

We felt this was a valuable moment to update you on health protocol, and as informed by the kinds of questions received. First, our joint message from earlier this month with embedded links is recopied below. It provides core elements of the process. Second, attached is an new infographic that we hope provides greater clarity on such topics as what a “close contact” means, how vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated persons are handled and counseled, and the protocol for when no identified risk of exposure or close contact occurred following investigation. It will be posted to the COVID website shortly.

Three additional points:

• The CHWC team begins contract tracing immediately after they are notified about a case, whether from a student, a faculty member, or a staff member. If a student discloses to you that they have COVID, or were exposed to COVID, direct them to contact the CHWC immediately if they had not already, but please you also contact us so we can ensure the investigation commences as rapidly as possible.
  
  

• We are pleased to relay that the Passaic County Department of Health will be augmenting our team here with regard to contract tracing. We are pleased to have them on board as partners in this important task, also benefited by the work faculty do with regard to regular course attendance in Attendance Tracker.
   

• Warnings are going out now to the few hundred remaining students who have not completed a 2^nd dose vaccination and who on October 6, will be administratively withdrawn from the University if they do not complete this step. Although we anticipate in the end that this will not be a large number, it is possible a student in your class will show up on your roster as withdrawn, although the reason will not be identified.
  
  

We hope this message provides you additional insights and clarification on important matters related to community health. The University is in communication daily with the county and state as it regards compliance with county, state, and federal regulations as well as the management of case response and resolution. At the same time, we do realize that when you hear about a case, sometimes first from a student in your class, it can be anxiety producing. Following the protocol described below, and guided by the attached, will ensure the right execution of investigation and resolution. As a reminder, the CHWC is the campus unit that directs the appropriate response given the circumstances surrounding a case.  

Sincerely,

Joshua Powers               Jill Guzman
Provost                           Director, CHWC

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September 3, 2021

Colleagues -

We wanted to provide some reminders and elaborations on COVID-19 protocols as informed by questions received, and as they may inform your guidance to students or others.

• Please remember to follow the masking requirements for both indoors and outdoors. The latest campus masking status can be found at this website. Any changes to the status will be posted to this site, as well as communicated broadly to the campus.
  
  
• The Campus Dashboard, which provides information about on-campus testing and positive cases, is updated weekly and can also be found at the above website.
  
  
• All community members (unvaccinated and vaccinated) must report any COVID-19 symptoms or exposures on the reporting form found at this same website. If you have a student reporting any symptoms or exposures, please refer them to this form. Anyone that fills out this form will be contacted by the Counseling, Health, and Wellness Center (students) or Human Resources (employees).
  
  
• You should not come to work if you are sick and/or not feeling well. Students should also stay home if they are not feeling well, alerting their instructors. Use the form referenced above to report COVID-19 symptoms or exposures, and await guidance from CHWC or HR as noted above.
  
  
• If employees or students are diagnosed with or test positive for COVID-19, they are required to isolate and must be cleared by a medical provider to return to campus.
  
  
  • All employees must be cleared to return to campus by Human Resources after submitting proper medical documentation. For staff while in quarantine, time is to be taken as COVID-19 Sick Leave if one’s job functions cannot be performed remotely as determined by one’s supervisor. For faculty in quarantine, shifting any on-campus course(s) online during the quarantine period can be utilized if no other reasonable option is possible.
    
    
  • When it is determined that a student has tested positive or is directly exposed to COVID 19, they are sent written instructions about quarantine and isolation and are provided with a letter via a message in their personal student health portal that provides an excuse from in-person classes. Students are instructed to share the letter with their professors. Due to confidentiality requirements, the letter does not say whether the student has tested positive or is in quarantine or isolation, but it does excuse them from in-person instruction. Please refrain from asking students about their personal health information or if they have tested positive.
    
    
  • Faculty are asked to work with students to enable them to keep up with course material and/or any assessments that may be scheduled during this period.
    
    
• Should students tell faculty they are missing class due to the need to quarantine or isolate, they should be able to produce this letter. If they do not have such a letter but were exposed to COVID-19, then they need to contact the CHWC immediately. Any student treated by an outside provider is required to notify CHWC to obtain an excuse letter, and for tracking purposes. If you receive any notes or excuse letters from students that have been given to them by an outside medical provider, please forward them to CHWC at COVIDCHWC@wpunj.edu. CHWC will reach out to the student directly.
  
  
• If it is determined that a student has attended a class on campus while contagious and there was a risk of exposure, a medical provider from the CHWC will contact the faculty in relevant course sections, and/or staff members in departments, to inform them that a student has tested positive. Please be aware that they cannot disclose who that student is. CHWC may ask the faculty member about a particular time and day of class and the conditions under which the class was held on certain days. This is to determine whether there were close contacts and exposures in the classroom. Only unvaccinated individuals who were close contacts where there was no social distancing are required to quarantine. Unvaccinated individuals are required to quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure. All vaccinated individuals that are deemed as close contacts are informed that they were exposed and should monitor for symptoms and remain masked for 14 days. They are permitted to come to campus and class as long as they don’t have symptoms.
  
  
• It remains important to engage in contact tracing should there be a case(s) identified. We ask that all instructors take regular attendance in all courses (here is the link for how to take course attendance using Attendance Tracker). In addition to its requirement by all for enrollment verification purposes, reporting on-campus attendance will allow for the quickest action to be taken in the event of a COVID-19 case.
• CHWC keeps track of all cases of students who are quarantined and under isolation. We will periodically check in with the students to monitor them for symptoms. They will then be given a clearance letter to return to in-person classes when they are deemed no risk to the community.
  
  
• Every positive COVID-19 case on our campus is discussed and reported to the local, county, and state health departments including the county epidemiologist to determine what further actions need to be taken. The New Jersey Department of Health tracks all cases at WP and makes determinations if there is an outbreak. They also provide regular guidance on whether additional protocols need to be in place.
  
  
• Please review any relevant policies on the COVID-19 Health and Safety website and on the Reopening Plan for more detailed information.

Thank you for your partnered efforts to keep our campus safe and healthy.

Sincerely,
Dr. Jill Guzman
Director, Counseling, Health
and Wellness Center

Joshua Powers
Provost and Senior Vice President
for Academic Affairs