The COVID-19 Monitoring and Response Plan provides general guidance for planning, tracking and decision-making for the 2020-21 academic year in which we expect COVID-19 to have an impact on our campus. The guidelines should lead to appropriate responses in dynamic and sometimes rapidly changing circumstances.
This plan further identifies departments and individuals that are directly responsible and accountable for emergency response and critical support services. It also details a structure for coordinating and deploying essential resources.
The resources and strategies outlined in this plan are designed to provide guidance to students, faculty and staff at MSMU’s main campus, Frederick campus, Seminary, and Grotto.
The primary stakeholders involved in managing infectious disease situations could include Student Life, Academic Affairs, Wellness Center, Public Safety, University Operations, University Affairs, and Physical Plant working in conjunction with the Frederick County Department of Health, MD State Health Department, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). See Appendix A for contact information.
The university will continue to monitor the public health situation in Maryland and surrounding states and the implications of this on our operations. The university has a plan in place for daily attestations of employee and student health and a plan for identifying and containing any COVID-19 cases on campus. We will be monitoring metrics that indicate the level of exposure of our community to COVID-19. If these metrics reach specified threshold levels, the university’s Emergency Action Team will be engaged to develop a response to protect our community. The President will call meetings of the Emergency Action Team as needed.
If needed, the President will convene an Emergency Action Team to assess the level of health threat to our community, develop appropriate responses to mitigate the threat, and communicate the situation to the community. Team members are:
ASPIRE is responsible for the daily monitoring of the following health metrics:
*Isolation is defined as a student moved into the university’s isolation space because of a positive test result for COVID-19.
**Quarantine is defined as a student who is following self-quarantine procedures in their own room or residence because they may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, have returned from out of state travel, or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
ASPIRE in coordination with Human Resources will also monitor the completion of daily health attestations by employees and students. If the aggregate percent of employees or students completing these on a given day falls below 80%, we will implement a communication campaign to remind everyone to complete these. Human Resources and the Dean of Students are responsible for the daily follow up with individual employees and students who do not complete the attestation.
Thresholds for Transition Among Health Alert Levels
Metric | Level 1 to Level 2 Threshold | Level 2 to Level 3 Threshold |
---|---|---|
Active cases among UG students | 40 | 60 |
Active cases among residential students | 32 | 50 |
% of campus isolation spaces used | 50% | 100% |
Active cases among seminarians | 3 | 6 |
Percentage of employees with confirmed cases | 2% | 4% |
Positive Test % (Positivity) in “random” surveillance testing | 4% | 8% |
Weeks in a row of upward trend in number of cases | 4 |
According to the level of incidences of COVID-19 cases on campus, the University will adapt its operations as necessary using four Alert Levels. The thresholds or triggers for each level are explained below.
The university will assume a Level One Health Alert for the first two weeks of the Spring 2021 semester until monitoring results can inform the Emergency Action Team. The university will continue to follow the health and safety protocols published in the Mount Safe webpages which includes isolation of COVID-19 cases and performing contact tracing. Wearing of masks and physical distancing are the main risk reduction measures that all employees, students and seminarians should be following.
The university may consider these additional risk reduction measures among other alternatives:
At Level Three, the university may consider these additional risk reduction measures beyond Level Two among other alternatives:
All decisions and actions of the Emergency Action Team will be communicated first to the President’s Cabinet and, if necessary, to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees.
The Director of Communications will develop and disseminate messages to the Mount Community regarding Emergency Action Team actions via email and social media.
The Mount Alert system may be used in emergency situations to inform the Mount Community of urgent matters.
Announcements about the health status of specific individuals is restricted by FERPA1.
The Emergency Action Team and other university officials will remain in communication with the Maryland Department of Health and the Frederick County Health Department and will closely monitor their published guidance and requirements.
Category | Actual Fall 2019 | Projected Spring 2021 |
---|---|---|
Total Students (FT + PT) | 2,318 | 2,420 |
Traditional UG (FT + PT) | 1,899 | 1,830 |
Traditional UG Residential | 1,328 | 1,220 |
Traditional UG Off Campus | 351 | 370 |
GPCE Students | 473 | 470 |
Seminarians | 159 | 159 |
Employees (FT + PT) | 615 | 615 |
Note: 45% of cases isolated on campus; 55% of residential cases isolated on campus.
Conclusion: We can expect at least 20 cases in the baseline testing.