As part of efforts to ensure the health and safety of our campus community, West Virginia University is providing students, faculty and staff additional details on its ongoing COVID-19 testing strategy.
Sample Testing
In addition to testing symptomatic individuals across our campus, WVU recently began sample testing certain groups of students, faculty and staff to quickly assess and limit the potential spread of COVID-19.
Individuals who may be asked to participate in sample testing include students with in-person classes, those living in residence halls and University Apartments, those participating in athletics, those in the performing arts, specific faculty and staff populations and random samples of students and employees — regardless of whether they have a known exposure or are showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Some of these groups (e.g., student athletes, resident assistants and residence hall coordinators) may be asked to complete testing on a weekly basis based on their potential exposure to COVID-19.
Further, it is important to note a prior negative test result reflects a point in time and is not indicative of any potential COVID-19 exposures someone may have had since their previous testing date. As such, some individuals may be asked to participate in sample testing more than once, including those who are randomly selected. Waste water surveillance from campus buildings may guide these efforts.
Individuals asked to participate in sample testing will receive an email notification on Friday afternoons from CovidTesting@mail.wvu.edu with instructions to register for testing. Participants will sign up for their preferred testing date/time via StarRez (WVU’s housing portal). Time slots to complete testing are available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the WVU Student Recreation Center.
Participants should receive their test results within three to five days. As always, participants should continue to follow the University’s safety protocols while awaiting their results.
Students and employees who are identified to take part in WVU’s sample testing program are required to complete COVID-19 testing. Those who fail to comply with the request to undergo testing may be subject to discipline in accordance with the University’s policies and procedures.
Note: Individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days will not need to complete sample testing. Further, those who currently are isolating due to a positive COVID-19 test result or are in quarantine because they were considered a close contact of someone who tested positive should continue to follow those orders and will not need to complete sample testing. However, individuals in quarantine may be required to complete a COVID-19 test outside the sample testing program.
Further, students, faculty and staff are required to report if they test positive for COVID-19 or are self-quarantining due to suspected or known exposure to COVID-19. Students should notify the WVU CARE Team, and employees should notify WVU Medical Management.
Additional Testing for In-Person Class Instructors
While some faculty members may be required to complete testing through WVU’s sample testing program, the University also is inviting all in-person class instructors on the Morgantown campus to undergo free COVID-19 testing on a voluntary basis.
In-person instructors who wish to be tested can register for their preferred testing date/time via StarRez. As with sample testing, time slots are available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the WVU Student Recreation Center.
WVU will continue to share the daily percentage of positive COVID-19 tests and the number of students in quarantine or isolation on the public-facing COVID-19 testing dashboard. The dashboard is updated Monday-Friday by 11 a.m. with information regarding students and employees broken out by campus (Morgantown, Beckley and Keyser). Updates also are posted via the WVU Safety social media accounts.
Visit the Return to Campus website for more information. Contact WVU Shared Services at sharedservices@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-6006 with questions.