Our Partners in Health and What to Expect on Campus
This information is archived as of July 23, 2021, and is saved here for reference. See latest health information.
Aug. 17, 2020
Welcome to the Fall 2020 semester! We are so pleased you have chosen to be a part of Central College’s incredible learning community.
With Move-In Day here, I’d like for you to hear from some of the people who have helped the college with its intense planning and pages of guidance to protect the community in managing COVID-19.
Central’s Partners in Health
For many years, Central has worked closely with Pella Regional Health Center and the Marion County Department of Public Health to help keep our campus community members safe and healthy.
Charlie Strey, Central’s dean of students, works closely with Lezlie Morris, PRHC’s chief of clinic services, and Kim Dorn, the county’s public health director, to keep our students and community safe.
This trifecta partnership is well-tuned and has existed long before COVID-19 appeared. That being said, this team served on Central’s COVID-19 campus protocol task force and worked diligently to operationalize the health protocols and develop plans for testing, quarantining and contact tracing services for Central community members.
These experts recently talked about how the three organizations work together. Let’s hear it in their own words:
DORN: MCPH has always done communicable disease follow-up and lots of public health programming. We have a long-standing relationship with Charlie and Central’s health task forces and planning groups. The college has done a great job of planning and figuring out what’s going to work on campus. The role of public health is to do COVID-19 testing and advising on isolation as well as quarantine and contact tracing for those who test positive. Right now, we’re offering tests on Tuesdays and Thursdays to asymptomatic people who think they might have been exposed. If there’s been a possible group exposure, we’ll test on other days, and in some cases can come to you to test.
There’s a very specific definition for what constitutes “contact” for COVID-19: You need to have been within six feet of someone for longer than 15 minutes. Even if you’re wearing a mask, that counts as a close contact. There are some caveats — if someone you’re close to coughs, sneezes or has some other aerosolizing event, we’ll count that as an exposure even if you’ve not been by them for 15 minutes. But not everyone you are near in a day will count as a close contact.
As soon as we learn of a positive COVID-19 test result, we’ll be in touch with the person, even if it’s on a weekend. We’ll tell you what you need to do to quarantine and we’ll ask you about people with whom you’ve been in contact so we can advise them to quarantine as well. We don’t disclose the names of people who are positive to those we contact.
MORRIS: PRHC provides health services to Central, working with Charlie to make the transition for students from college to our clinics when they have a health need. We do COVID-19 testing and then refer positive cases to the public health department for contact tracing. We prefer that symptomatic people get tested at the hospital rather than at MCPH because we’re better equipped to sort out a potential COVID-19 infection from any other illness onset or ongoing need that requires follow-up here. Right now, we’re doing COVID-19 screening on a drive-up basis in the parking lot; by Aug. 24 we plan to do scheduled testing, which should cut down on wait times. As we enter flu season on top of COVID-19 on top of schools restarting, we expect to be seeing a lot of people and want to be prepared for them. We’re reconfiguring some areas of the clinic to accommodate the influx of testing and diagnosis.
STREY: How do you think Central is doing in its preparations for fall?
MORRIS: The college has worked hard to consider all kinds of scenarios over the years, and COVID-19 is just the latest. They’ve had processes and policies in place, they’ve done their due diligence, they’ve worked with and taken guidance from us and MCPH. I’ve been very impressed with what the college has done. Everyone has been very thoughtful and prepared and pulled in stakeholders from within and outside to get in front of the pandemic as best they can. I think they’ve done a great job and I’m happy to be a part of that.
STREY: What advice do you have for students and their parents as they prepare to come to campus?
MORRIS: I’d tell students that it’s their responsibility to follow the rules. Doing this will help you to have a good college experience. Be truthful if you’re not feeling well and let the college know.
DORN: If you test positive, be up front with us about who your contacts are. There’s no shame in having a positive result. Stuff happens and people get sick. We need your help to get it traced down so it’s not spreading. Of course, we want you to do the things we always talk about — wash your hands, wear a mask, watch your physical distance and stay home and isolated if you are sick or if you feel fine but have tested positive. You can also protect yourself and others by keeping your circle small. If you have the same set of eight to 10 friends, stick with your tribe. Sit in the same place in your classrooms, labs and while dining. It makes it much easier for us to trace contacts and really helps limit the spread.
STREY: We have protocols in place on campus to quarantine and isolate people, and we can move people into those spaces very quickly. We also have the ability to have students continue to attend classes and events virtually while in quarantine and isolation, and we can have meals delivered to them. A positive test result doesn’t mean you have to go home, and it doesn’t mean your education and college experience are interrupted.
What to Expect on Campus
Over the summer we’ve shared our expectations and requirements of students, faculty and staff coming to campus this fall. Please continue to use this incredible resource that Charlie, Kim and Lezlie helped create. In summary, the guidelines on our COVID-19 response site can be expressed in three easy to remember W’s:
- WASH your hands.
- WEAR a mask.
- WATCH your physical distancing.
You can also watch this video to see to some of the steps we’ve put into place. And remember we have a heart for others and these protocols are necessary. Keeping our campus community safe and healthy depends on each and every one of us following them. Central and its health partners at the hospital and public health department have done and will continue to do the utmost in making this academic year successful.
What to Expect for Fun
We know the fall semester will be a push and pull between normalcy and managing the risks of COVID-19. Even so, we believe that incredible learning will occur and there will be time for friends and fun — it will just look a little different from how it has in the past.
Many of Central’s events are part of a long tradition. This year, the student development team has worked with the Campus Activities Board to adapt many of those traditions to ensure that as many people as possible can safely participate. Some events will become virtual and others will be both in person and virtual. In-person event safety precautions may include:
- Lowered maximum room capacities.
- Staged arrival and departure of controlled numbers of people, perhaps resulting in wait times.
- Mask-wearing where physical distancing isn’t possible.
- Cleaning during events.
- Postponing events that can’t reasonably be adapted to safety protocols.
- Events are subject to change as we continue to monitor new developments related to COVID-19 from state and local authorities.
Check out the details here of three early-semester events:
- Maytag Madness,7-10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23.
Come to the Maytag Student Center to enjoy free snacks and free swag, play a variety of fun games, create a make and take craft and win great prizes. - Forever Dutch Celebration,2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Gather around the pond for a brand-new, one-of-a-kind celebration including entertainment, speakers, free food and giveaways. - Taquiza, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7.
Gather on the Central Market Patio for a traditional Mexican taqueria crafting of authentic tacos and street fare. Enjoy music and lawn games around the pond; a live concert in the new Peace Mall amphitheater; a comedy show featuring Paul Schissler sponsored by the Campus Activities Board; paddle boarding at Robert’s Creek sponsored by Residential Life; Glow-in-the-Dark Capture the Flag sponsored by Campus Ministries; and a Game-Show-themed Late Night Central sponsored by Student Development.
We are pleased to bring you these opportunities to enhance your Central experience, meet and connect with others in our community and have a lot of fun. Remember, the success of fall semester rests in the hands of each individual community member. Having a heart for others is critical to do that successfully.
We can’t wait to see you. Behind our masks we’ll be smiling widely.
Mark L. Putnam
President