SRU begins with modified system online until Feb. 1
Slippery Rock University students began classes Tuesday in a modified system with all classes conducted online until Feb. 1.
After that date, about 20% of classes could switch to in-person instruction.
“In a perfect world, I'd like us to be more face-to-face in this semester, but I think we made the right call given where we are with an infection positivity rate,” said SRU President William Behre.
According to the most recent data released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Butler County has a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, positivity rate of 14.3%, which has it placed in the moderate category for community infection. The online format also gives the university time to meet state-mandated testing requirements. The university unveiled details about its testing plans Wednesday.
Testing will be broken into two phases.The first will be the universal testing of all non-symptomatic residential students and student athletes. After the completion of universal testing for those populations, the university will extend invitations for testing to the rest of the student body.Students will be tested using a PCR test.“The PCR is considered the gold standard because it's the most accurate type of testing,” said Kris Benkeser, SRU director of student health and wellness.SRU's testing was originally planned to launch Jan. 19, but a delay arose in obtaining the final pieces of equipment for the Shippensburg University lab.SRU has partnered with Shippensburg's lab to produce test results. Shippensburg will likely be used in the second phase, but for the first phase, SRU will use a third-party vendor, Virus Geeks, a California-based biohealth technology company that specializes in COVID-19 testing.Once in the second phase, SRU will begin retesting students every other week. It anticipates testing more than 1,500 students per week. “We think for a typical student, one test every other week will give us a pulse of what spread is like on our campus,” Behre said.
In the fall, COVID-19 testing was arranged through the Student Health Center for students who showed symptoms. More than 330 tests were administered and produced 83 positive results.Overall last semester, there were more than 240 confirmed student cases, which included off-campus students who tested positive elsewhere.For this semester, students who have symptoms or have recently come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 should instead contact the Student Health Center at 724-738-2052.“The spring semester will be more about screening and better protecting the entire community from an outbreak, in addition to treating individuals,” said David Wilmes, chief student affairs officer.Also new this semester, students in the second phase will be able to use their smart phones to schedule appointments and receive results.The students will receive a barcode that is scanned and identified on a test tube, which will then submit the results to Student Health Services.“For data security purposes, there will be no personally identifiable information transferred between the mobile app, the testing center and the lab,” said John Ziegler, associate provost of information and administrative technology services.
Testing and understanding the COVID-19 presence on campus will help the university begin to use the spring semester as a pilot as they plan for a more open fall semester, according to Behre. “A lot of what we're doing this semester is learning and to get better,” Behre said.Behre said the school will try to conduct in-person activities in a controlled environment this semester. He said athletic events will be a driving force in these efforts, but they hope to conduct social activities too.“It's going to be thoughtful implementation of a process and then analysis of whether it worked as we anticipated,” Behre said. “We're going to behave as thoughtfully as we can, as responsibly as we can, as we're learning.”Behre said planning for the fall must take place now as the deadline to register for that semester will arrive in eight weeks. He said everything must be ready before the semester even begins. “I'm optimistic,” he said. “Even if it doesn't feel like it in today's society, I do think we're turning a corner. I think you'll see something that looks a lot like the old Slippery Rock University come the fall.”
