Campus update: Changes in COVID guidelines

Feb. 11, 2022

Changes in COVID guidelines

Starting Feb. 14, we will change some of our COVID-19 guidelines. Please note that the requirement to mask indoors remains.

• Restrictions will be lifted on the size of group gatherings, and rooms may be used at capacity.

• Student clubs and organizations may return to in-person meetings.

• Visitors at admissions or athletic events no longer will be asked to present their vaccination cards.

• Faculty and staff may return to in-person meetings, if desired. Virtual meetings may still take place at the discretion of the organizer to meet the comfort level and needs of the participants.

The Augustana Strong Task Force, as well as the president's leadership cabinet will be reviewing our guidelines weekly and will communicate further changes. If conditions change for the better or the worse, adjustments to campus guidelines likely will change.

We encourage you to stay up-to-date on your vaccinations, and register your shots with the college. Our program of surveillance testing for people not up-to-date on their vaccinations will continue.

Notes on COVID testing

If you are symptomatic, go to the clinic for immediate testing (rapid). Do not go if you are not symptomatic. At this time, Genesis Health clinic protocols do not allow testing of asymptomatic people.

If you are asymptomatic and would like to test through the college, contact Kelly Brooks. Free PCR tests are available Tuesday and Wednesday each week. She will contact you with the test time. Results will be provided 48 hours later. 

Mandatory testing will continue on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for people who are unvaccinated.

Free KN95 masks available

Free KN95 masks are available to students and employees, starting Monday. You can pick up masks any time between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Dean of Students office, inside Founders Hall, on the first floor. 

Employers, grad schools on the lookout for student-athletes

Student-athletes often are sought-after for jobs and graduate school. Their experience balancing academics and athletics yields skills that are in demand.

To help student-athletes communicate their experiences so they stand out to employers and graduate schools, CORE career coaches offer workshops for Augustana’s varsity teams. → Read more

We're naming the bridge

Next Wednesday, all are invited to a short naming ceremony at 2 p.m. at the bridge between Swanson Commons and lower campus. It now will be called the Obama Bridge, in honor of the former president who helped to secure funding for it when he was a junior senator from Illinois.

Then-Sen. Barack Obama spoked to a standing-room-only crowd at Augustana on Feb. 23, 2005. Calling education our nation's "economic livelihood," he urged students to be "hungry for knowledge."

Today's updates:

• Go to the Study Abroad Fair next Wednesday to find out opportunities for the coming summer, and for the 2022-23 academic year. The fair will run from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Gävle Rooms.

• Summer Student Research Fellowships are a big opportunity. You can apply for $300 a week for a $1,500-$3,000 stipend, plus up to $500 in expenses. This supports research and creative activities under the guidance of a faculty member, typically for a five- to 10-week project. Submit by Feb. 18.

 First-year students: Consider living in a special place next year. Applications are open until March 7 for the International House and Augustana Leaders in Vocational Exploration (ALIVE) house.

 Sharpen your pencils! The Ethics Essay Contest offers cash prizes, and entries are due by March 4. The Audre Lorde Writing Prize deadline is March 7, and you can submit papers you have written any time since spring semester 2021.