Abstract
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions were forced to make difficult decisions regarding the 2020–2021 academic year. Many institutions decided to have courses in an online remote format, others decided to attempt an in-person experience, while still others took a hybrid approach. Hope College (Holland, MI) decided that an in-person semester would be safer and more equitable for students. To achieve this at a residential college required broad collaboration across multiple stakeholders. Here, we share lessons learned and detail Hope College's model, including wastewater surveillance, comprehensive testing, contact tracing, and isolation procedures that allowed us to deliver on our commitment of an in-person, residential college experience.
Highlights
Hope College is a 4-year residential institution located within the city of Holland, MI
As testing capacity allowed, entire residential halls were asked to test within 24 h. Including both the 1% sample and individual wastewater follow up testing, 5,696 surveillance tests were conducted during the semester, resulting in 57 positive cases (a 1% positive rate) (Figure 2)
We follow the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with our local health department and are fortunate to partner with the Ottawa County Department of Public Health
Summary
Hope College is a 4-year residential institution located within the city of Holland, MI (pop. 30,300). As testing capacity allowed, entire residential halls were asked to test within 24 h Including both the 1% sample and individual wastewater follow up testing, 5,696 surveillance tests were conducted during the semester, resulting in 57 positive cases (a 1% positive rate) (Figure 2). An additional testing subset at the end of the semester included students who indicated they would be returning to housing during the time between semesters and would unavoidably be in close contact with an immunocompromised family member For these situations, students were provided “peace of mind” testing prior to leaving campus. A team of trained advocates and healthcare professionals supported students who were in isolation or quarantine to make their experience as comfortable as possible These advocates helped with moving, informed students of resources, checked in on them, facilitated communication with faculty, and helped them understand their role in the contact tracing process. It would have been impossible to restrict students from leaving campus
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