With the uncertainty of this fall semester, the university is keeping a public record of COVID-19 cases on campus. The COVID Dashboard shows how many residential students were tested and how many positive cases there were. It also shows cumulative data on the percentage of COVID positive students, off-campus, commuter students, faculty, and the number of those in quarantine or isolation.

This dashboard reported that during the first week of the semester, Aug. 17-23, there were more than 2,000 tests taken, resulting in only one positive test among a commuter student.

On Aug. 28, Ophelie Rowe-Allen, dean of students, sent an email to inform students of the one positive case and direct them to the dashboard.

Rowe-Allen said, “We will not be immune to having positive cases on campus; however, you can take steps to avoid a large outbreak.”

“The low number of positive cases truly is a testament to your commitment to following the comprehensive public health measures that are in place to keep us safe,” she said. “Let’s keep up the great work.”

On Sept. 2, students noticed that the dashboard only showed the numbers for the first week of classes. Under the impression that it would be updated weekly, students took to their class Facebook pages to ask when the most recent statistics would be posted.

Later that day, Charlie the Charger posted to the Class of 2021 page with a link to the updated dashboard, which showed COVID statistics on campus as of Aug. 30. As of that date, the cumulative statistics showed that two commuter students tested positive and that 30 students were in quarantine, either on or off-campus.

Dean of the School of Health and Sciences and University COVID-19 coordinator Summer McGee said, “Quarantine numbers have increased because some students off-campus and on-campus have had exposures to COVID+ individuals not living on our campus such as going home on the weekend to see a friend or a family member.”

Some students are still concerned about the state of positive cases on campus, especially with recent rumors that members of the football team have tested positive.

On Sept. 2, the COVID-19 task force responded to this rumor with, “There were no confirmed cases on-campus or off-campus last week.”

Going forward, Charlie said, “The dashboard now shows the most recent week’s data, as well as cumulative data. The data is reported to the state on Monday, and, going forward, we will update the dashboard by Tuesday morning.”

If students have questions or concerns, they can email the COVID-19 task force at [email protected] or visit the university’s COVID-19 page.