Student Quarantine and Isolation – Office of the Provost

Student Illness and Quarantine

One certainty we can expect during this term is that you will have students in your class who become quarantined, isolated, or ill. It will be particularly important for students not to feel as though their learning is compromised during quarantine, which can last for 14 days. Students should also not feel penalized if they must refrain from campus activities because of symptoms of illness. The “Have you considered…” checklist that we disseminated earlier is designed to help you prepare for these circumstances. Communicating your plans to students will help to reassure them.

Quarantine/Isolation Impact on Classes

When a student is isolated or quarantined, faculty will be notified of their change in circumstances and the duration of that change will be specified. To protect student privacy, faculty will not be told the reason for this change. A student may elect to tell you more specific details, but that is their choice. Here is a sample email that you can expect to receive:

Your student, HARRY POTTER, in class POTIONS 100, will be unable to attend classes in person until at least 09/18/2020. The student will be in touch directly about their availability to participate in online or asynchronous activities. The student is responsible to make arrangements for making up any coursework they miss.

If you receive this notification, work directly with the student to create a plan for them to keep up with coursework. Students who are not ill should be able to actively engage in your class.

Do not assume that your entire class will need to quarantine if one student tests positive. We are expecting faculty to conduct classes so that students will not come within six feet of one another for more than 15 minutes per session. This means that the student’s classmates are not close contacts by virtue of attending your class.

If there is more than one student isolated or quarantined in your class, you should assume that the cases are unrelated to your class sessions, unless you are contacted and told otherwise. We ask that you submit a seating chart in the first week of the term (more instructions for how to do this are coming soon).

If the contact tracers believe that your class is a source of transmission, an Associate Provost from the Office of the Provost will consult with you regarding possible course adjustments.