Campus News

Updated March 18, 2021 to reflect the CDC Options to Reduce Quarantine recently adopted by the Winnebago County Health Department.

Please read through this for some clarification to the process that Lang is taking for Covid-19.

Teleparticipation – Lang will email the faculty of a student that is in need of teleparticipation.  Lang will not share that a specific person has tested positive.  Covid positive, presumed positive and close contact students all require the same teleparticipation need.  Lang is able to keep some confidentiality with this standard.  If a student is sick to the point of not being able to teleparticipate, faculty will be notified of that, as Lang has always done when a student presents to the Wellness Center too ill to attend class. 

Lang Process:  When a student presents to Lang with symptoms of Covid-19 the following will occur:

1. Instruct the student to stay home
2. Conduct interview for contact tracing (to identify brief and close contacts) and cleaning purposes
3. Educate the student on the next steps: isolation, testing needs, transportation needs to get tested, notifying faculty, notifying employer, etc. depending on the student’s situation
4. Contact close contacts to inform them of need to stay home
5. Conduct interviews of close contacts for contact tracing and cleaning purposes
6. Educate the close contacts on the next steps: quarantine, testing needs, transportation needs to get tested, notifying faculty, notifying employer, etc. depending on the student’s situation
7. Notify Residence Life, Facilities, and Dining Services of appropriate needs
8. Notify faculty of student need to teleparticipate
9. Notify Academic Affairs if classes need to receive a brief contact letter

Please be aware that the interview process can take a long time and hopefully the student has done as instructed and contacted the faculty.  Students may contact faculty before Lang is able to.

Some students will not notify Lang of any issues, but will start with their professor, coach, or supervisor.  Please let us know when you hear from a student if you have not heard from Lang. 

Some students have chronic health issues that have symptoms that are similar to COVID-19. These students are advised to stay home that day, assessed to determine if their symptoms are consistent with their chronic health issue and then are re-assessed the following day for resolution of symptoms. If symptoms do not follow the normal pattern the student would be referred for testing and the process above would be initiated. If the symptoms have resolved and have followed the normal pattern, the student is cleared to return to class.

Return to Class:

1. Lang will be communicating with the student throughout isolation/quarantine for updates. The isolation timeframe for Covid-19 is 10 days. The quarantine timeframe is currently 7-10 days.  There may be situations that are longer or shorter.
2. Once cleared to return to in-person classes, an email will be sent to faculty indicating this.

Some students are not able to return to campus immediately upon being cleared.  If we know the student has a planned return to residence hall date, we will communicate that.

Contact Tracing – A form is used to walk the person through areas of campus and group affiliations to identify contacts.

Brief Contact Letters– If a person tests positive, a brief contact letter will be sent to the in-person classes and other individuals that have been identified by the positive person as brief contacts.  The letter we are sending out was provided to us by the Winnebago County Health Department and we have tailored it to fit our needs.  The nature of a brief contact is such that providing the day and time of exposure is not necessary.  The letter simply indicates that a person should pay attention to symptoms.  We are already expecting everyone at RU to be doing this.

Close Contact Phone Calls – We will call individuals who are identified as close contacts. 

When a symptomatic or positive person is unsure if someone would be a close or brief contact, we call the contact to discuss the nature of the contact.  

Quarantine is for people who are not sick, but may have been exposed to a sick person.

Isolation is for people who are already sick.

People may have to quarantine due to being a close contact of someone with symptoms.  If the symptomatic person’s test is negative for Covid, then the quarantine is ended for the contacts as it ended up not being necessary.  If the symptomatic person’s test comes back positive, the close contacts have to quarantine for 7-10 days from their exposure.  We will be in contact with the close contacts to give instructions on what steps they need to take.

Campus Clear App – Faculty and staff are encouraged to also use the Campus Clear app to monitor symptoms daily.  This is a free app that guides you through a symptom checklist for COVID-19. As part of the Rockford University Community Expectations, every member of Rockford University is to check for symptoms before leaving home for class or work. 

Here are the links to download the app:

• Apple AppStore: https://apps.apple.com/app/campusclear/id1516163872
• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.campusclear
• Web app: https://web.ivy.ai/app/campusclear