RESPONDING TO COVID-19 A Total Campus Effort A proactive, collaborative approach and a lot of planning are the factors that Dr. Dave Rozeboom credits with keeping the spread of COVID-19 relatively contained during the 2020-21 academic year so far. “It’s been a team effort,” according to Rozeboom, who is vice president for Student Life. “I am unbelievably proud of our campus community effort in terms of COVID-19 communication, collaboration, and awesome support for our students. We have tackled this problem at Mars Hill through a collaborative process, and we have taken a proactive approach to testing and to quarantining students who have been exposed.” These factors, he said, have contained Mars Hill’s total positive cases so far this academic year to 98* students. (*as of March 11, 2021.) The COVID-19 Response Team Mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and addressing the needs of the campus have been the primary goals of the COVID-19 Response Team (CRT), a cross-section of key personnel on campus. Their tasks have included addressing everything from
the physical health and wellness of the campus community to facilities, safety and security, academics, and others. Prior to students’ return in the fall, the CRT closely monitored local and national guidance to establish new COVID-19-related policies and procedures for the campus. The group met virtually on a daily basis to prepare for a safe reopening and to continually assess the needs of the campus. Since the opening of the academic year, the CRT team has managed COVID-19 testing and contact tracing protocols (with medical services and athletic training personnel), has addressed policy violations and concerns, has assisted with plans to reintegrate student athletes back into practice and competition, has updated university website dashboard numbers, and has reviewed various forms of data to forecast how the virus might continue to affect the campus. The team has worked closely with the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) and with Madison County Health Department. continued ...
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