NORFOLK, Va. — Colleges and universities are home to considerable resources of all kinds, with the minds of their students and faculty being at the top of that list. So when schools were forced to shut down nationwide last year, Old Dominion University took one matter into its own hands.
According to Vice President of Student Engagement and Enrollment Services Don Stansberry, ODU wanted to ease the burden on local testing systems and work toward getting students safely back into class.
"Create our own resources, knowing that the long-term payoff would be that we could test all students and eventually be able to help the community," said Stansberry.
That payoff is a certified on-campus lab and with it, weekly mandatory testing for all students attending class in-person or living on campus.
The College of Health Sciences has staffed PhD and Masters students in the lab, only increasing the self-sufficiency that the college has manifested
"The plan is to continue to offer testing until a time when it's safe in terms of positivity in the surrounding area or recommendations from health professionals," Stansberry said.
While they'll monitor regional numbers to determine mandatory testing, they plan on having regular testing at least through the 2021 Fall semester.