Student Health Update with Heather Black

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Chatham’s plans to return to campus in the Fall of 2020, a number of faculty and staff working groups have been set up to create plans for safe operation. Dean of Students, Dr. Heather Black, led the planning group efforts in the areas of Student & Employee Health and Housing & Dining. We caught up with Heather to learn more about the efforts to protect student health and wellness on campus. Read on to learn more about Chatham’s protocols to keep our students safe and stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll discuss residence life in depth—

Dean Heather Black

Will health services and the counseling center have more extensive offerings this semester?

Heather Black: Yes, the Counseling Center was already set to expand this year. They are partnering with the Counseling Psychology graduate program. The PsyD students are doing some practicums there this year. They're going to be offering proactive programming, like workshops that can be done virtually. They're also looking into doing an urgent care counseling model where a student could walk in same day and see someone for 30 minutes to determine what's needed. We also launched an online mental health support app, Talk Campus, that all students can access year round. It's not monitored by our counselors, but it’s monitored by counseling professionals. It's meant to be a student support space, where students can go and talk about what they're experiencing and get support from peers across the world.

For health services, we are hiring a full-time nurse. We've also updated the space this summer to better equip their needs. We will still follow our urgent care model where students can go to urgent care, and use their ID for basic services. But we've also expanded so that we can refer students to a telehealth appointment. Our nurse will be able to do some telehealth appointments via Microsoft Teams with students who suspect they have COVID-19.

Will students be able to receive tests in the health center?

HB: We're hoping that we'll be able to do some form of testing. There are lots of different ways you can test, but we have not finalized that yet. We are, however, set up to help students access testing. There are more than 20 testing locations within a five-mile radius of Chatham where students can be tested. We have equipped a public safety vehicle with a Plexiglas barrier, so that we can transport a student who needs testing if they're not able to transport themselves.

what protocol will a student follow if they find out they have come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19?

HB: They need to notify Health Services immediately (412-365-1714) and begin to shelter in place in their residence hall or wherever they're living until we can move them. If they're a commuter student, they're going to be instructed to go and isolate at home. If they're an on-campus student, we have isolation spaces on campus that are available. We'll need to know what their exposure was like before we can determine if they can isolate in their current assignment or if they need to isolate in one of our isolation spaces. If they are moved to one of our isolation spaces, all of those spaces are equipped with a kit that includes a thermometer, sheets, bathroom supplies, and toiletry. We'll do a check-in with that student every day until they're out of their isolation period. This intersects with Allegheny County’s protocol. If a student notifies us, they have likely already received notification from the county. But even if we discover a student has been exposed first, the county will follow up with everyone no matter what. The county has a daily questionnaire that those exposed will fill out through Sara Alert. This will monitor if they become symptomatic and if and when they need to get tested.

If a student needs to shelter in an isolation space, how long will they be there?

HB: It depends on what the county advises and what has happened. Right now, if they are identified as a “close contact”—anybody who spent more than 15 minutes with and was closer than six feet to a person who tested positive for COVID-19—they will have to isolate for 14 days. The residence halls on campus function a little differently. For example, we know that on a communal living floor students will be sharing bathrooms, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are close contacts. We will have a five-day isolation protocol for anybody who would have used that bathroom. That's an internal protocol set by Chatham to make sure they don't become symptomatic.

What should a student do if they ENCOUNTER someone on campus who ISN’T WEARING a mask?

HB: In that moment I would encourage them to—if they're comfortable—ask the person to wear a mask. They shouldn't engage in any sort of argument with them, though. They should report it to the Office of Student Affairs. We would then pull in the student who wasn’t wearing a mask, offer them a mask—which we will have available at all health screening locations—and hopefully create a shared understanding around why it's important to wear a mask. It's not just about you. It's about keeping our entire community safe. If a student still refuses, they would be subject to the Honor Code which could result in removal from campus.

Can you talk a little bit about what THE Cougars Care PROGRAM is and the goal behind it?

HB: The hope is that we can help shift our culture. Not just at Chatham but across the nation, we have a pervasive culture that if you're sick, you push through, you come in, you have that cold but you're like 'I can do it.' There are a lot of rewards our society places on people who push through that. We really want to switch that culture to help people understand that staying home when you're sick isn't about you pushing through and being able to handle it. It's more about deciding, "I care about others and I don't want others to get sick." It takes all of us to make a difference and to keep our community safe. And that includes more than just staying home if we're sick. We have to be proactive in our health management; we have to wash our hands, clean, and disinfect our spaces. It’s being a bystander who is willing to have conversations with people about why this is crucial. In order for our campus community to continue to function in person, it's going to take all of us doing our part. It's about us being able to understand that contributing our part to the whole is essential.

Thanks to Dean Heather Black for taking the time to talk with us. Stay tuned for part 2 of Heather’s interview, coming soon. In the meantime, learn more about our plans and protocols for Fall 2020 on our website.