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WVU planning mass testing, education efforts before start-up of spring semester

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials at West Virginia University are beginning the mobilization process to begin the spring semester later this month.

Rob Alsop

According to WVU Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop, staff is preparing for move in, mass COVID-19 testing, surveillance testing and campus protocols.

Spring semester students will begin moving in next Monday, Jan. 11 with general registration beginning Friday, Jan. 15. The first day of in-person classes is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 19.

“Thousands of (COVID-19) tests we’re going to undertake every day next week,” Alsop said. “Our goal is to have all students tested, with the results by the 19th.”

Student testing begins Monday at the WVU Student Recreation Center and the Mountainlair. Students could be fined or have a student conduct referral if they aren’t tested by Jan. 16.

A campaign to actively educate, enforce protocols is underway for students and faculty. Officials are hoping to avoid the suspension of in-person learning that occurred around Labor Day last year.

WVU allowed only its freshmen students along with some graduate and professional students to participate in in-person classes during the fall semester. The rest of the students took their courses remotely. The same is planned for the spring semester.

The availability of a COVID vaccine is one factor that could help the university get through the term with minimal interruptions, according to Alsop.

“Those things are really critical to hopefully the next 60 to 90 days weathering this storm,” he said. “Then once the vaccinations take hold and we some reductions in illness and we’ll see a new day.”

Since the fall semester, the university has established the WVU Rapid Development Laboratory, a testing facility that can handle hundreds of tests per day in the Health Sciences Center. The new LAB was funded by CARES Act money from the state and is just a portion of the help provided from the governor’s office, Alsop said.

“He’s helped fund an internal lab at WVU. He’s provided, through the CARES Act, a lot of resources for testing for all the schools,” Alsop said. “So it’s been a really good partnership that help these mobilization efforts.”

The university and state officials are actively working together to allocate resources to keep students in the classroom, Alsop said.

“The governor is constantly reading data and we’re getting information from Dr. Marsh (state Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh) the same way he is,” Alsop said. “I think we’re very much on the same page in terms of what is the situation on the ground? What are the resources available? And how can we keep our students and community safe?”

The new lab has been used to relieve capacity at other labs in the state, but will be used exclusively for students and faculty testing in the coming weeks.

“We’ve had some discussions with the policy commission (state Higher Education Policy Commission), after that to have that testing facility available to work with schools across the state or if DHHR or other have a need to deploy to help with other testing capabilities,” Alsop
said.

Faculty and staff COVID-19 testing is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.





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