COVID-19 FAQ

The CDC's guidance is to start wearing a mask immediately after you find out you were exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and continues to wear a mask for 10 days after the last exposure. Then, get tested or test yourself using a rapid at-home test at least 5 full days after exposure. If at any point you test positive or develop symptoms, isolate yourself immediately.

If you are a student and test positive for COVID-19, complete and submit the Report an Illness form. Goucher follows the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidance, and students must isolate for at least 5 days. The Student Health Center works with all students who test positive to determine the length of their isolation and move them into isolation housing when appropriate. 

If you are an employee and you test positive for COVID-19, complete and submit the Report an Illness form. Human Resources (HR) works with all employees who test positive to determine the length of their isolation.

If you are a student, please self-isolate until you receive further instructions from the Student Health Center (SHC). If unsure, please call the Student Health Center at 410-337-6050 or email nurse@goucher.edu to request an appointment.  

If you are an employee, please follow the procedures outlined in the Quarantine & Return to Work policy. 

For students, after you complete and submit the Report an Illness Form, the Student Health Center contacts you to discuss the next steps. If you complete and submit the form outside of regular business hours, contact the Office of Campus Safety (410-337-6111), so they can get you in touch with the Office of Residential Life on Call to move you into isolation housing.  

For employees, after you complete and submit the Report an Illness Form Human Resources contacts you to discuss the next steps.  

The Student Health Center only tests students. The SHC sends student testing to local labs, like LabCorp and Quest, and the labs charge students’ insurance for testing. It is the same as other lab tests at the Student Health Center. However, wastewater testing is at no cost to students and employees. 

We seek input from our state and local health department on what number of cases would constitute what level of restrictive action (up to and including the campus closure).  

Students who test positive before arriving on campus should contact the Student Health Center and delay their arrival to campus until they have completed their isolation period.

In addition to wastewater testing, on-campus testing is available at the Student Health Center to any students who are symptomatic or are close contacts of someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

If you are a residential student who lives alone in a room with a private bathroom, you are allowed to isolate yourself in your room. If you are a residential student with a roommate or who does not have a private bathroom, you are moved to the College's isolation housing. If you and your roommate both test positive and have a private bathroom, you may isolate-in-place together. If it is safe to do so, you can choose to isolate yourself off-campus at home or another location. Please inform the Office of Residential Life and the Student Health Center if you decide to do this.

Commuter students isolate themselves in their off-campus residences. Unfortunately, there is no on-campus isolation housing available for commuter students. 

Close contact notification is done by the Student Health Center (SHC) after learning of a student’s positive status:

• SHC talks with the affected student to identify the people they were in contact with while infected
• SHC notifies the Office of Human Resources (HR) about exposed faculty/staff

Per the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, all staff and faculty must be vaccinated or have an approved medical or religious exemption before coming to campus. Employees with an approved exemption may be subject to additional screening. Wastewater testing continues at no cost to employees.

Employees may not use the Student Health Center. Instead, employees must test off-campus at a facility of their choice (e.g., pharmacy, doctor’s office, urgent care center), and rapid test results are acceptable.

The Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) through BHS provides 24/7 free, confidential, in-the moment-support to employees and their household members to help with personal or professional problems. Counseling services, community discounts, financial and legal consultation services, and childcare and eldercare referrals are available. In addition, take advantage of the numerous athletic and fitness opportunities, including Goucher’s walking trails.

If a student has symptoms consistent with COVID-19, they should call or email the Student Health Center (410-337-6050/nurse@goucher.edu).

If a student is exposed to someone with COVID-19, they should contact the Student Health Center (410-337-6050/nurse@goucher.edu). If they have tested positive for COVID-19, they must report their illness to the College using the COVID reporting form.

If a student is positive, the Student Health Center (SHC) informs the associate provost for undergraduate studies, who will then notify the faculty member that the student will not be able to attend class in person. This notification will not specify why the student may not be able to participate in class, as medical information is confidential.

Goucher College follows current CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidance regarding quarantine and isolation.

The process for requesting a temporary absence from class due to testing positive for COVID-19 or Monkeypox is as follows:

1. If a student experiences any symptoms, they should consult the Student Health Center (SHC).
2. If a student tests positive, they must immediately use the reporting form.
3. The SHC follows up with the student and informs the associate provost for undergraduate studies of the dates the student is absent from classes.
4. When the associate provost for undergraduate studies receives notification from SHC, they inform the student´s faculty and advisor via email (e.g., [name of student] will not be able to attend your [xxx] class until [date]. [name of student] will contact you in a timely manner to inquire about how to keep up with classwork.). The subject of the email will be the name of the student.
5. All faculty members have attendance policies in place that should be enforced. Faculty members will work with each student who has been approved for a short-term health absence as indicated in the Quarantine and Isolation Policy to keep up with coursework through reasonable instructional adaptations. Faculty members will abide by APC guidelines for online instruction, which is that the default expectation in our residential campus is that classes are in-person. Students with an approved long-term health absence may petition the associate provost to drop/withdraw from a course after the deadline or submit a leave request to the dean of students.

The Office of Admissions offers on-site visits for prospective students and family members. Therefore, the following protocols are being observed:

• Visitors exhibiting coronavirus symptoms must reschedule their visit.
• The Office of Admissions records all attendees on each tour to support contact tracing if necessary.
• Admissions Ambassadors use a predetermined tour route shared with Campus Operations.

The Pilates Center has resumed all in-person classes and sessions, and virtual options are still available. Pilates students enter the Pilates studios at a designated entrance that will take them from outdoors directly into the studio and have been asked to remain in their vehicle until their scheduled session time. All students and instructors are reminded if they are not feeling well, have a fever, or exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19 as defined by the CDC. They should refrain from coming onto campus. All instructors and participants follow the College's required guidelines and always make every effort to maintain distance. Equipment is cleaned between each session and will receive a deep clean at the end of each day.

External events must follow any COVID-19 guidelines outlined in their contracts.

Community visitors (neighbors who utilize trails and loop roads for exercise) are permitted on campus. However, community visitors must abide by campus COVID-19 guidelines while on campus.