Dear USF students,
Welcome to the spring 2021 semester. I hope you enjoyed the holiday break and were able to take some much-deserved time to rest and recover.
In this New Year, I am encouraged by a sense of hope and renewal. Even as we face continued challenges – in our communities and as a nation – the horizon is bright, especially as we continue to rely on our deep sense of connectedness as a community.
As we begin classes today, I want to provide a few important updates:
Increased COVID Mitigation Strategies
To prepare for the return to campus, all faculty, staff and students were required to complete the Return to Campus Assessment. For those who indicate plans to be on campus, USF’s Daily Symptom Checker is required and has been modified to allow better outreach and exposure assessment and swift support for members of our community.
As such, it is imperative that everyone completes the Daily Symptom Checker honestly, stay home if symptomatic or possibly exposed and faithfully report infection or exposure. Failure to do so will result in a referral to Student Conduct or Human Resources and could result in disciplinary action or dismissal.
Testing
Throughout the fall, the university successfully used a random testing approach to monitor the prevalence of the coronavirus on our campuses. This provided us with data critical for decision-making.
Because cases of COVID are on the rise, USF will increase our surveillance capability by expanding our random testing protocol to a larger percentage of the population. If you are living on campus, taking in-person classes, or coming to campus on a regular basis, you will likely be contacted for random testing. Your cooperation is expected.
I’m grateful for the many ways that USF continues to demonstrate a commitment to community. As One USF, we will prevail!
Have a safe and productive semester.
Sincerely,
President Currall