Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, President | September 18, 2020
We continue to focus on our community’s health and safety by wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart and practicing good hygiene, and our adherence to these practices is evident in our test results .
We are writing to share with you that Ohio State’s testing program will be expanded to include regular surveillance testing of asymptomatic graduate and professional students. This is part of the university’s multi-pronged strategy to inform our decision-making and mitigate and monitor the spread of COVID-19.
A surveillance testing program means that samples of students will be selected and tested for COVID-19; such testing is not in response to a known exposure or because someone is showing symptoms and does not require a self-quarantine period while awaiting test results. This allows the university to draw conclusions about the level...
Bruce A. McPheron, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost | September 11, 2020
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
While we are less than a month into autumn semester, I am writing to provide clarity about spring semester 2021 so that you can begin to make plans.
Ohio State campuses will continue to be open in the new year, and classes will take place through a mix of in-person, online and blended teaching that supports our Safe and Healthy Buckeyes plan. Classes will begin on our published start date (Jan. 11), but we have made several other adjustments to the academic calendar:
Dear Student Leaders: I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.
As you know, in response to an increase of positive COVID-19 cases among students, we put a hold on all in-person student organization events and gatherings through tomorrow (September 9). While we monitor testing trends after the holiday weekend, we will extend the hold through Sunday, September 13, with the intent of resuming activities on Monday, September 14. As a reminder, in-person events and gatherings will be limited to no more than ten people.
Likewise, to further expand your opportunities to engage with each...
David P. McQuaid, RPh, MBA, Chief Operating Officer, Wexner Medical Center and Andrew Thomas, MD, MBA, Chief Clinical Officer, Wexner Medical Center | September 4, 2020
The university and medical center have worked together throughout the pandemic to ensure standardization of processes across the institution. One of those things is health reporting, the process of checking and reporting your temperature before your shift each day. Although the medical center currently has our own process for health reporting, we want to align with the university to have consistent measures, processes and reporting that help keep us safe and healthy on campus and in the community.
Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, President | September 4, 2020
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
Happy Labor Day weekend! Thank you for your incredible work to advance and support learning, teaching, research, patient care, outreach and more at this great university.
Tuesday was my first official day as president , and I spent part of the morning at Jesse Owens North to observe our COVID-19 student testing site. The level of innovation, professionalism and careful focus on safety was truly outstanding. I also visited with students, faculty and staff at our Wexner Medical Center COVID-19 call center — where individuals and families throughout the community turn for...
Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, President | September 2, 2020
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
We have updated the COVID-19 dashboard with our most recent test results from Monday, Aug. 31.
The on-campus student positivity rate decreased to 5.7% from our last update of 5.86%. This shows that by wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart and following all safe and healthy guidelines , you are having an impact. Let’s keep it going.
The off-campus undergraduate positivity rate is not as encouraging at 9.66% in our first 24-hour snapshot from Monday. I am confident that by strictly following the Together As Buckeyes guidelines we can...
Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, President-elect | August 28, 2020
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
Our first week of classes is complete. What a whirlwind beginning to the journey we are all taking together!
Almost 12,400 Buckeyes finished a student move-in like no other , as we welcomed our new class of first-year students. And our faculty and staff worked with extraordinary skill and diligence to prepare our classrooms and campuses for a safe and healthy autumn semester. Veronica and I are so amazed by all that you have done to get to this point.
Amy L. Fairchild, PhD, MPH, Dean, College of Public Health and Gladys M. Gibbs, MD, MS, Director, Student Health Services | August 28, 2020
Dear Student Leaders:
As you saw in President Johnsonʼs message yesterday, we need to take decisive and proactive action to interrupt the trend of increasing numbers of students testing positive for COVID-19 on and around our campus.
In an effort to do all that we possibly can, Ohio State is temporarily suspending all in-person student organization events or gatherings, of any size and/or location through September 9, 2020. We know many of you have already dramatically changed the way in which you are interacting this semester, and we thank you. This new action is not a punishment and...
Kristina M. Johnson, PhD, President-elect | August 27, 2020
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
In the last 24 hours, we have received the latest data from our COVID-19 testing program, and the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. The good news is that working together we can change this.
As you know, on Tuesday, we released Ohio State’s COVID-19 dashboard with data through Saturday that showed a student positivity rate of 1.16%. Over the last 24 hours, we have seen the student positivity rate rise to 3.10%. But it’s not just the positivity rate that is of concern; it’s also the rate of transmission....
