Dear USD Campus Community:

As we prepare for the start of the 2022-23 academic year, we want to update you on changes to the campus COVID-19 protocols for the fall semester. These updates were made in an effort to offer the best possible educational experience while maintaining the health and wellbeing of all members of our community. As the pandemic evolves, it is important to continue to assess what we have learned and to adapt our plans to align with the data and meet the changing needs of our campus community. All protocols and safety measures are subject to change as the circumstances in San Diego and on campus dictate.

A focus on personal responsibility. As we continue to see, COVID-19 is an ongoing part of our lives. Our campus community has done a remarkable job in caring for one another and upholding our health and safety measures. Let's keep up the momentum by exercising personal responsibility as we return to campus this fall semester.

If you are ill, stay home. As a reminder, if you do not feel well, do not come to work or class. If you test positive for COVID-19, you will be responsible for notifying close contacts, professors or Human Resources when you must be absent from class or work. It is imperative that you continue to follow health and safety measures related to isolation.

Campus COVID-19 monitoring changes. The university will no longer conduct mandatory or random surveillance testing. If the situation dictates, we are prepared to restart campus surveillance testing through the university’s Affinity partnership. During the spring 2022 semester, the university conducted more than 23,000 COVID-19 tests on campus, not including those conducted by the County of San Diego at its Alcalá Park West location. From those tests, 327 tests were positive for a 1.4 percent positivity rate. The Student Health Center will continue to test symptomatic students for COVID-19. For faculty, staff and administrators, the County of San Diego will continue to operate its testing site at Alcalá Park West. COVID-19 self-test kits will be available at no cost at the Torero Store by presenting your student/employee ID.

Campus wastewater testing. In order to continue to collect data on COVID-19 on campus, the university has established a wastewater testing program in partnership with UCSD. The wastewater testing program will focus on residential housing and classroom buildings. Data will be collected five days per week and reported on the Onward USD website COVID-19 dashboard within 24 hours. Buildings where COVID-19 has been identified will be highlighted, and we will advise people who frequent those buildings to obtain a COVID-19 test result.

USD Updated Fall 2022 COVID-19 Health and Safety Measures

Our approach to health and safety measures for the fall semester includes:

• The university requires the COVID-19 vaccination and booster for the campus community. Waivers for medical and religious reasons may be submitted.
• The university continues to support and encourage campus community members to wear face coverings when they feel the need to do so.
• Faculty may require face coverings to be worn during their classes.
• Those 50 years old and older are strongly encouraged to receive a second booster.
• Wastewater testing will be established and reported five days per week on the Onward USD website COVID-19 dashboard.
• The campus ventilation system that was upgraded to MERV-13 filtration or better during the pandemic has been serviced in preparation for the fall semester.
• Resident students will isolate in place during the fall 2022 semester. Alternative housing will be considered, as needed, when there is significant concern for continued COVID-19 exposure to roommates (for example, when roommates are immunocompromised or face other challenging situations).
• We will maintain close contact with the County of San Diego to track hospitalization rates.
• The campus will continue to monitor county sewage testing for COVID-19 to identify when increases in cases are mounting in San Diego.
• The Student Health Center will continue to provide care and testing for students with symptoms associated with COVID-19.
• All members of the USD community will continue to be required to contact covidsupport@sandiego.edu if they test positive for COVID-19.
• COVID-19 self-test kits will be available at no charge at the Torero Store by presenting a student/employee ID.

In the event we experience a significant resurgence of COVID-19 infections, we may choose to implement any or all of the following health and safety measures:

• Require face coverings in all classes, labs and libraries.
• Expand contact tracing.
• Require face coverings on campus at all times.
• Resume surveillance testing.
• Cancel indoor rentals of non-university events.

While we hope that we are not put in a position to have to reinstate these more stringent measures, we are prepared to do what it takes to create a safer and healthier environment for our campus community over the coming months. We will continue to provide updates through our COVID-19 dashboard on the Onward USD website.

Sincerely,

Ky Snyder
Vice President and Chief Operations Officer