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I’d like to spotlight @butleru for doing an absolutely abysmal job of handling covid testing/communications. Students are extremely confused and it’s putting people at serious risk of infection. Here’s my recent experience:
I was exposed to what can be classified as a super-spreader event (an on-campus meeting with coworkers) on Tuesday. My coworker tested positive on Wednesday morning, meaning they were contagious the day before.
I had already been tested by the university, but was given no information about retesting, nor were any of my peers. I showed up at Hinkle this morning to get a second test. I assumed we’d be allowed repeats, since one negative test doesn’t guarantee permanent health & safety.
Additionally, since massive schools like @Illinois_Alma are mandating regular testing (for FREE), I assumed a small, wealthy school like Butler would consider this a no-brainer: https://bit.ly/2CQWO7t
Not only was I informed that the university has only ordered enough tests for each student to be tested once, but I was also told that any additional testing would need to be done off campus — with the understanding that I’d be paying out of pocket.
School officials made me walk out of a testing facility with no additional steps taken (no tracing of my contacts, no notes made that I might have the virus, no retest, no mental health resources) and sent me right back into the community knowing I could be contagious.
Because Butler has done a terrible job of implementing/communicating a plan, untested students have been showing up on campus/interacting with tested students, & because we can only be tested at school once, there’s absolutely no way of maintaining a healthy bubble.
Testing is also expensive as hell, and you have to drive quite far to get to off-campus sites. It’s inaccessible for students who don’t have cars and prohibitively expensive for students who may not be able to pay out of pocket.
I also learned today that the mandated daily health screen was supposed to be started on your first day on campus, not your first day of classes. Everyone I’ve spoken to about this thought the same thing. The university was incredibly unclear about it, & as a result it’s useless.
I have not been contacted by the university for tracing purposes (even though the coworker has been reaching out to the school to get that in motion), so theoretically I could be walking around spewing germs at others, and the school has done nothing about it.
To be clear, I do actually care that this is a contagious and dangerous disease, and I’m taking all necessary steps to be sure I’m not spreading it. But I shouldn’t have to fight with the school to allow me the opportunity to make safe decisions.
I’m not surprised at @butleru’s response, but I am angry. The university is neither prepared nor willing to work at safe campus procedures, and I’m so tired of the stress and confusion that stems from their inadequate leadership, as are many of my peers.
If a university w/a $200 million endowment won’t shell out the cash for multiple tests per student, knowing it’s a safety risk, do you *really* think they care about anything beyond our tuition $? They certainly haven’t proved it as of now.
Hi all, thanks for reading this! I'm sorry that we're all in such a difficult situation, and I hope that you're all feeling as safe as you can be in this moment. I've been asked to address a point of contention in my thread:
My use of the term "super-spreader." When I completed a COVID tracing training in May, potential super-spreaders were deemed groups of larger than 10. The meeting on Tuesday = a group of ~15. I'm now aware that the language has since been solidified & relies on % infected.
Although my original understanding of "super-spreading events" was incorrect, however, it's important to note that PERFECTLY adhering to the university health protocol is impossible, and should not be the basis of my and others' health security.
Finally, I'd like to add that this should not be a surprising turn of events. The university was made aware of the community's concerns a month ago, when the Health/Safety plan was released. The deterioration we're seeing (& resulting anger from students) is not unprecedented.
