Jacqueline Peraza | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As students, faculty and staff prepare to return to the university for fall courses, UTRGV has implemented the requirement of a self-screening process, facial coverings and social distancing practices.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will ask all students and employees to answer a series of questions before stepping foot on campus through a new self-screening and reporting process.
“If you answer “yes” to any of that, we’re telling people, first of all, don’t come to campus,” said Doug Arney, vice president for Administrative Support Services. “We don’t want you to do that. … The main thing is, hey, let’s protect the rest of the campus community members and we’ll provide you help.”
People who answer “yes” to any of the screening questions, have been exposed (within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes) to someone to who tested positive or is currently being tested in the prior 14 days, or have tested positive for the virus and have not been officially released by a member of the COVID-19 Response Team, are being asked to stay away from campus and off-campus facilities.
If instructed to stay off campus, students and employees should communicate with instructors or supervisors, fill out the Preliminary COVID-19 Screening Form and wait for an email from the Response Team.
The UTRGV Infectious Disease Committee followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to create the screening and reporting process.
“We meet every week since the inception of [COVID-19],” Arney said. “We talk about things like, ‘How can we best protect our employees and students on campus?’ And even provide guidance to them when they’re off campus: Follow CDC guidelines, so on and so forth.”
Members of the Infectious Disease Committee include: Arney, committee chair; Dr. Michael Dobbs, chief medical officer; Dr. Jose Campo Maldonado, infectious disease specialist; Richard Costello, director of Environmental Health Safety and Emergency Management (Oversight for COVID-19 Response Team); Dr. Scott Spear, medical director Employee/Student Health; Rick Gray, director of Student Health Services; Linda Nelson, senior director of Clinical Operations; and Pablo Mendez, Emergency Preparedness coordinator.
The committee will work with areas such as the library and Student Union to stay open and available to the campus community during the fall semester.
“Everything we do is predicated on proper protocol, which starts with social distancing and then face coverings,” he said “We have a mandatory face covering protocol when you come to campus.”
According to the UTRGV Face Covering Protocols, “anyone entering a campus building must wear a face covering that covers the mouth and nose.”
The protocol also states face coverings may be removed in office spaces when social distancing of 6 feet is possible and maintained. Facial coverings are required in “outdoor settings when safe social distancing and gathering practices are not possible.”
If someone on campus is seen not wearing a mask, it is advised to inform them of the university’s requirement of facial coverings. The Compliance Hotline, (877) 882-3999, is available for community members to report a concern anonymously.
The full Facial Covering Protocol can be found here.
UTRGV will provide disinfectant wipes to students, faculty and staff across campus to wipe down their own space when entering a classroom or lab, as well as deep clean these areas on a daily basis.
“You just grab [a wipe] from the hallway before you walk into your classroom … and you wipe down your own space … [and] every evening we’ll do a deep clean,” Arney said. “We have these big machines, and we’re going to sanitize all the classrooms that we utilize that day with chemicals.”
Ana Zendejas, a psychology sophomore, said she plans on visiting campus twice a week but is still concerned about in-person classes.
“Even though it’s, like, less seating, it’s still probably going to be more than 10 [students],” Zendejas said. “For example, I’ve been taking care of myself but you don’t know if someone else has been taking care of themselves. So, you don’t know who’s sick and who isn’t.”
She said she believes the university was prepared for helping the community during the pandemic by offering COVID-19 testing sites and helping students financially.
“They made sure all their students wouldn’t have to be stressed out because of tuition or parking … like, not to add extra burden,” Zendejas said. “They took care of their students.”
Arney said the university has been working toward creating an environment where students, faculty, staff and community members feel safe to return to.
“We’ve been working at this now for quite a while and I think we have a process in place that it will be safe … when people start coming back,” he said.
For more information about the return to campus COVID-19 guidelines, visit www.utrgv.edu/coronavirus.
