Mandatory COVID-19 testing for students begins this week

The university has expanded COVID-19 testing for the spring semester. In addition to on-campus testing for symptomatic students and close contacts, Marquette will provide weekly mandatory COVID-19 tests for selected students.

This free testing – often called “surveillance testing” – will begin on Monday, Jan. 25. Students should check their Marquette emails on Sunday, Jan. 24, to see if they were selected for the first round of testing.

All students who live on or near campus may be selected for mandatory testing, regardless of a prior history of a recent negative test, history of a positive test or recent vaccination. Mandatory testing will run all 16 weeks of the spring semester, and students may be selected for testing more than once throughout the semester.

The process for mandatory testing is as follows:

1. Up to 500 undergraduate, graduate and professional students will receive an email each week on Sunday, sent to their university email account. The email will indicate that the student was selected for mandatory testing. Students are responsible for checking their email weekly. Students may be selected for testing more than once in the semester.
2. The email will provide instructions to make an appointment for testing during the week at the on-campus testing site, located in the East Gym at the Helfaer Recreation Center, 525 N. 16^th St. The testing site can be directly accessed from the 16^th Street entrance. Students must schedule a testing appointment; appointments are available between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m., Monday through Friday. Tests take about 10-15 minutes and must be scheduled and completed during the week the student was selected.
3. Results will be shared with the students, generally the same day as they are tested. The tests will be saliva-based tests, but in some cases a nasal swab test may be necessary and may result in a delayed notification of results.
4. Students who test positive will be required to isolate for at least 10 days after receiving their results. Isolation space is provided by the university.

Because testing is mandatory, there will be consequences for students who ignore their selection. Failure to schedule an appointment or failure to show up for a scheduled appointment will result in an official conduct warning and will require the student to schedule a test the following week.

• If a selected student does not respond to their Sunday selection email by making a testing appointment, a follow-up email will be sent on Tuesday.
• Failure to schedule an appointment that week or show up for an appointment will result in a $50 fine and loss of access to campus, including the Rec Center, Raynor Memorial Library and other areas of campus. This will also result in unexcused absences from classes. Any fines received will be used toward drug and alcohol education programs at Marquette.
• Further failures would escalate to a student conduct hearing.

In addition to testing, remember that physical distancing and wearing a mask or cloth face covering is mandatory in all public spaces at Marquette. Appropriate use of cloth face coverings that cover both the mouth and nose is critical for minimizing the risk to others. The cloth face covering should encapsulate respiration, whereas loose fitting bandanas, cloth containing openings, neck gaiters and mesh face coverings are not acceptable protection.

Visit Marquette’s COVID-19 website for more information about COVID-19 protocols and mandatory testing FAQs.

By participating in mandatory testing, students are helping the university detect trends of positivity on campus and respond in a timely manner. Students will receive “thank you” incentives during their testing time – these will change throughout the semester – but the biggest incentive is helping to reduce the spread of the virus throughout our campus community and making an in-person campus experience possible. You Make The Difference.