Frequently Asked Questions
Return to Campus
Last Updated: February 24, 2021
Testing
This is outside of the surveillance testing plans for student-athletes as those are informed by NCAA guidelines and will occur separately. These tests will be covered by the institution with the goal of mitigating the spread of the virus on campus.
*Students will be tested using a rapid Antigen BinaxNOW COVID-19 test from Abbott Laboratories. These tests have a sensitivity rate of 97.1% and a specificity rate of 98.5%.
Spring 2021 Schedule
Health and Safety
Prompt and efficient contact tracing is an essential public health activity to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The College has assembled a team of contact tracers who will be conducting the tracing process and each of them is certified through the Johns Hopkins University contact tracing program. When we learn that a student has tested positive for COVID-19, the College will follow the following procedure with that student:
- Communicate with the student to offer support, share information about resources, and discuss Isolation procedures.
- Make plans to stay in communication.
- Work with the student who tested positive to develop a list of people who have had close contact on a regular basis (within six feet for a total of at least 15 minutes during a 24 hour time period) with the student since 48 hours before the student’s symptoms started (or two days prior to the positive specimen collection if the student who tested positive is not having symptoms).
Each person named on the contact list will receive communication via phone where we will follow the following procedure:
- Identify ourselves and let the person know we are calling because they have been identified as someone who has had close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.
- Let them know that the purpose of the call is to reduce the transmission/spread of COVID-19, explain confidentiality guidelines and clarify that the person is in a private location where they can talk.
- Without naming or identifying the person who tested positive, we will share information about the date when the most recent contact occurred, how close contact is defined, and the requirement that contacts will quarantine for ten days, or seven days if they have a negative test at day five, from their most recent time of contact.
- Explain Quarantine procedures.
- We communicate with the student to offer support, share information about resources, and discuss Quarantine procedures.
- We make plans to stay in communication.
Academic Instruction
All faculty members will be delivering courses primarily in one of four main ways:
- Face-to-face - meeting on campus at the scheduled course time in a large enough space to ensure appropriate social distancing
- Hybrid (HYBR) - Combination of Face-to-Face and remote instruction, the latter of which may be synchronous or asynchronous, often indicated when rooms are not large enough for the entire class to meet at the same time
- Remote (RMTE) - Distance learning with synchronous component via Zoom during the scheduled class time
- Online (ONLN) - Exclusively online and asynchronous
- Number and trend of infections on campus
- Availability of quarantine and isolation facilities
- Percentage of cases linked to known cases
- Inventory levels of personal protective equipment
- One of the most important metrics we’ll be monitoring is the level of student and employee compliance with the College’s Health & Safety Measures. Are people wearing masks, are they practicing social distancing, etc. These measures are our first line of defense against the virus and if they are adhered to will go a long way to ensuring a safe and healthy campus environment.
Housing & Student Life
Quarantine
Dining
Athletics
Surveillance testing is used to track patterns of spread of a disease/infection in a community setting. Typically, a percentage of the population, or the entire population of a defined group, is tested without regard to whether the individual is symptomatic or may be engaged in high contact risk behavior. Surveillance testing may be used to help mitigate the risk of an outbreak due to the sports activity.
The athletics department will fund all necessary surveillance testing. Any student-athlete who is presenting with symptoms would fall under the College’s COVID-19 policy and be routed through student health for follow up and necessary testing.
Student-athletes who elected to receive in-person instruction are eligible to participate. In addition, all student-athletes must complete all required NCAA and Athletic Department Compliance paperwork and have been medically cleared by our Athletic Trainer.
To provide maximum flexibility for conferences, institutions, and individual programs during the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA has modified the rules with regard to countable athletic activity for Division III. These adjustments change from the standard “traditional” and “non-traditional” seasons, which were measured with defined “weeks” to a more flexible “day” model. Each NCAA DIII program has the ability to use a maximum of 114 days of countable athletic-related activity throughout the 2020-2021 academic year.
During the Spring 2021 semester, we will gradually pursue athletic opportunities on campus for our student-athletes including small group practices and intrasquad scrimmages if they are able to be conducted safely. We also will recognize our seniors as part of senior day activities.
Click here for more information regarding Winter & Spring Athletics
At this time, the College has chosen not to participate in winter sports intercollegiate competition. (Winter sports include men's and women's Basketball, men's and women's Swimming, men's and women's Indoor Track & Field, and Wrestling). With rising state and regional COVID-19 case levels as well as hospitalization rates, we are not yet comfortable commencing athletic competition within the conference. If the conditions in the Commonwealth change and allow us to alter this decision, we can reconsider this choice, however, at this time, we owe it to our teams, to be honest about our current position.
Click here for more information regarding Winter & Spring Athletics
Yes. All three facilities will be available for students this spring.
Yes. All of our Coaches are committed to the success of our student-athletes and remain a resource for them throughout the semester.
Yes, the Athletic Training staff will have availability for student-athletes to serve them.
Yes, if you plan on participating in athletic activities; please consult with your Head Coach for more information.
Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) leadership endorsed a conference policy that will prohibit spectators at CVC matches during the upcoming spring campaign. Decision-making throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the health of the individuals within the CVC's athletic arenas and a safe return to competition. Enacting this policy will allow campus administrations to control athletic environments as we collectively work towards a return to play. CVC leadership will continue to monitor the landscape surrounding the pandemic. Should any changes be made to the spectator policy, updates will be conveyed thru conference office and member institution communication channels. View more details.
Fans are not permitted at any Landmark contests at this time. It is the hope that this policy can be revisited for outdoor sports later this semester if conditions improve and subject to state and local health authorities permitting outdoor gatherings. Fans are encouraged to follow the action of their favorite programs via live streams for available games. View more details.
General Coronavirus-Related Questions
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- According to the CDC, you should seek medical advice if you develop symptoms and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or if you live in or have recently been in an area with the ongoing spread of COVID-19.
- Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet for at least 15 minutes).
- Respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.
- These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.
- Some recent studies have suggested that COVID-19 may be spread by people who are not showing symptoms.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
- If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
- Put 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others.
Finance
Costs to provide rooms to students do not vary significantly based on the number of weeks a student stays in a room. For the Spring 2021 semester, to protect building systems, we still need to provide heat to the rooms even though they are not occupied. Building system components need to be maintained and repairs still need to be made. Employees who support on-campus housing cannot be laid off for the three-week remote period. For Dining, costs have increased this year based on the requirement to package most of the meals for takeout and we have spent significant funds on installing equipment and signage to support social distancing within the dining facilities. Like residence life, layoffs of employees who support dining for a three-week period aren’t feasible as this would jeopardize the availability of staff when students arrive the second week of February. We established our room and board charges this year based on a 13-week semester. Last fall, the only group of students who paid the full semester charge was for first-year students as they were on campus the entire 13-week period. For those groups of students who were on campus less than 13 weeks last fall (Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores), we provided a pro-rata reduction in the room and board costs. If the College makes further adjustments to the Spring 2021 schedule resulting in an on-campus semester that is less than 13 weeks, we will provide pro-rata reductions in room and board as we did last fall.
Yes. If Elizabethtown College would need to close campus due to circumstances out of our control, students living within on-campus housing residences would receive a prorated refund for room and board.
No. Students who live in off-campus housing do not pay room and board costs.
Thank you for making a contribution to enhancing the lives of Elizabethtown College students. Please visit our Giving section to make your donation.
More information and daily updates can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.