- Limit use of shared spaces and objects (like computers, door handles, etc) and disinfect shared surfaces
- Verify that ventilation systems are working properly
- Modify spaces so that social distancing can be practiced
Make all dining halls grab-and-go style

Keeping Campus Environments Safe and Healthy

- Enforce that students/staff should remain home or quarantine if they have been potentially or been confirmed to have been exposed to COVID-19
- Encourage frequent hand-washing and covering coughs/sneezes
- Ensure there are adequate hygiene supplies for this
- Reinforce the usage of face coverings particularly in indoor settings and in close quarters
- Remind community members of these suggested practices with signage, emails, or another form of communication

Encouraging Healthy Behaviors in Community Members according to the CDC 

- Implement comprehensive contact tracing if an individual becomes infected 
- Ensure community members who were exposed are following quarantine protocol and that ill individuals are isolating appropriately 
- Designate spaces as locations for isolating and quarantining community members
- Clean all areas occupied by an ill person or someone suspected to be ill 
- Inform all appropriate community health officials 

Contingency Plans for Ill Community Members/Outbreaks at Colleges according to the CDC 

- Have communication systems in place to inform the community about COVID-related events
- Provide virtual learning/working options for immune-compromised and other at-risk individuals
- Limit large gatherings and college-sanctioned travel
- Have administration and health care services prepared to support community members in prevention and management of disease
- Have a plan in place for if a community member becomes ill to inhibit spread of COVID-19
- Implement less strict policies on absences from work or the classroom
- Implement training for all staff and students on healthy behaviors to support healthy operations of the college

Keeping College Operations Safe according to the CDC 

The college/university settings pose unique challenges to the management of students and faculty/staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dense populations and close-quarters of residential environments on most college campuses create high risks for viral transmission. On the other hand, college students may be more willing to follow proper safety protocol instituted by a college and may be more able to handle remote learning when necessary. 

Reopening Colleges/Universities for Fall 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic

- Encouraging Healthy Behaviors in Community Members at Institutions of Higher Ed
- Keeping Campus Environments Safe and Healthy 
- Keeping College Operations Safe 
- Contingency Plan for Ill Community Members/Outbreaks at Colleges according to the CDC


Michigan State University

Smith College

CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

- opening higher ed institutions
- virus testing

CDC Guidelines

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CDC Guidelines for Reopening Higher Ed Institutions 

In August, the CDC officially recommended that those without COVID-19 symptoms didn't need to be tested- even if they knew they'd been exposed. This decision received a lot of backlash from public health officials pushing for more testing.  It was later revealed that that the original guidelines had been re-written by those involved with the Department of Health and Human Services and the US COVID task force.

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