Between the Zoom calls, classroom capacities, limited gathering sizes and masks covering the faces of every Shark, it’s hard to miss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on NSU.
As of April 12, for the week prior, there were seven cases of COVID-19 reported for undergraduate students, one for graduate students, three for the NSU University School and four for faculty and staff, according to NSU’s COVID-19 dashboard. In total, there were 15 reported cases for the entire NSU population of 26,395 individuals.
NSU has maintained a positivity rate of 2% or less for COVID-19 cases the entire year. Harry Moon, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NSU, explained that this was substantially below the community level and could be considered a significant achievement in comparison to the rest of the country and other universities.
“I am very proud of what the university has been able to achieve. When I say university, I say that universally, not just the administration, not the staff, but everyone,” Moon said in regards to NSU’s actions and management of the pandemic.
Beth Welmaker, the executive director of environmental health and safety for NSU, shared Moon’s sentiments.
“When I look at how NSU has done compared to some of my colleagues in other institutions in higher education, I’m really proud overall of how well NSU has done in keeping cases [low] and managing those cases,” Welmaker said.
On April 1, the Office of the President sent an email to all NSU students, staff and faculty titled “NSU Sharks Return to Campus This Fall; Vaccinations Required.” The letter included the announcement of NSU’s vaccination requirement for the fall semester, which will go into effect on Aug. 1, and earlier for some programs. NSU has been a designated COVID-19 vaccination site, which has been run by volunteers from the nursing and pharmaceutical programs. Through a partnership with the Broward County Department of Health, the university was able to offer those who sign up online the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccination to any NSU student or employee, ages 18 and up as of April 5. Additionally, as of April 12, qualifying family and friends of NSU employees are able to schedule vaccination appointments through the university while the clinic remains open and has available vaccines.
Moon compared the vaccine to “additional armor we can take into the battle.” The announcement came after a “cumulative assessment” over the past 13 months, rather than an instant decision.
Moon explained that the goal is to get back in the classroom with as normal a learning environment as feasible, along with other activities and events.
“It became clear that the safest path to get [to this goal] was through vaccination. If we can achieve, ideally, if everyone were to be vaccinated, then we would truly have absolute herd immunity for our population. Everyone would have as much protection as the other,” Moon said.
Moon also mentioned that the university will take any reports of proposed exemptions to the vaccination policy on a “case by case basis,” recognizing the different factors that may come into play for different individuals.
The letter sent to the NSU community also stated, “In the next few weeks, [the university] will produce a formal policy to provide for limited exemptions as recognized under law for students or employees with underlying medical conditions that prohibit vaccination or who have sincerely held religious beliefs (not personal beliefs).”
The letter stated that this decision was made after careful planning and consultations with health care and operational professionals, so NSU may begin to “return to a ‘partial pre-pandemic’ environment.”
“I think all of our lives have permanently been modified from this experience. It’s hard to predict what a post-COVID-19 world will look like. I don’t think there will be a return to normal as we knew it… What the new normal might look like is, perhaps, at least for a short while, an appreciation for things that we took for granted in the past,” Welmaker said.
On April 2, a day after the letter was sent to the NSU community, the Governor issued an executive order “expressing his view on requiring proof of vaccination for a business serving its customers here in Florida,” according to the April 6 update posted on NSU’s dedicated COVID-19 website.
Other recent and previous communications can be found here. The same update also stated that the university will respect the state and federal laws and directives, and will be determining how this may impact prior plans. Members of the NSU community are encouraged to monitor their emails and NSU’s COVID-19 website for any new developments.
Information in this article is up-to-date as of April 9.
If a student is having any symptoms, they are advised to reach out to NSU’s Telehealth line at (954) 262-4100, where they will be connected to a physician who will review their symptoms and, if needed, schedule a COVID-19 test on campus. Additionally, students can email COVIDcase@nova.edu to provide updates on their symptoms and test results, even if the results are still pending, and to get assigned a COVID-19 case manager to oversee the situation and offer assistance, if necessary. Emailing COVIDcase will also immediately provide students with the Telehealth number, as well as links to employee and graduate/professional student report forms, the undergraduate student form and the form to report exposures. Students, staff and faculty can visit NSU’s dedicated website, www.nova.edu/coronavirus, for up to date information regarding COVID-19 at the university.
