Updated: March 23, 2022

Information on COVID PCR testing data, active cases, and recoveries are provided in the Austin College COVID Dashboard.

The positivity rate of our community, along with vaccination status and area health conditions, will determine how we commit to conducting ourselves on campus this fall. We will be responsive to the rapidly changing dynamics and provide updates on health and safety protocols as needed.

AC MOBILE APP
Students, please download the AC Mobile App to access campus information and important updates.

Information for Campus Visitors

Submit Your Vaccine Record

Please direct inquiries to vicepresident@austincollege.edu.

Mobile App | Visitor Info | Resources | COVID Dashboard | Submit Your Vaccine Record

Spring Term 2022 Protocols
Effective March 23, 2022

Re-entry testing after Spring Break has been completed and case counts remain very low. Based on current health indicators on campus, locally and regionally, routine COVID-19 testing is discontinued on campus effective March 23. This may change if conditions warrant. Austin College lifted the indoor mask requirement on Tuesday, March 1, based on CDC recommendation on February 25.

NOTE: Students, staff, faculty, and visitors must carry a mask when on campus. You may be required to wear a mask in particular spaces and in certain conditions.

Here are some examples:

Masks are required for everyone when entering Health Services/Adams Center.
You may be required to wear a mask when you are in a class, lab, research space, or in an office if specifically requested by a professor or staff member.
An employee providing services (e.g., IT, Facilities Services, athletic trainer) may require the individuals receiving the service to wear a mask.
Anyone conducting a meeting or event may require all in-person participants to wear a mask.

Thank you for being kind and considerate of others. We continue to support those who make a personal choice to wear masks.

Frequently Asked Questions

ROUTINE COVID-19 PCR TESTING

Will the campus population be tested routinely?

Routine COVID-19 testing is discontinued on campus effective March 23. Going forward, if you want to be tested for COVID-19, there are several options including government issued tests, rapid at-home tests, and testing at area pharmacies. Our provider, Advanced Laboratory Services (ALS), will continue to offer testing locally. If you choose ALS, remember to register online to check hours and availability.

Can anyone be tested on campus?

If I test positive, what happens?

Students will need to contact Health Services, regardless of whether you are vaccinated or showing symptoms. You may contact by phone or email.
Faculty and staff will need to contact Human Resources regardless of whether you are vaccinated or showing symptoms. You may contact by phone or email.
All health information is kept strictly confidential.
Isolation and quarantine protocols will vary pending the individual’s vaccination and symptomatic status and will be discussed on a confidential, individual basis.
If you must miss class or work for any reason, please contact your professor or your supervisor.

If I have close contact with a test-positive, what happens?

Monitor your symptoms. If you are sick, please report your symptoms and take appropriate action as determined by Health Services (students) or Human Resources (employees).
If you are asymptomatic and fully vaccinated, you may report to work or to class. Please monitor for symptoms.
If you are asymptomatic and not fully vaccinated, contact Health Services (students) or Human Resources (employees).

STUDENT QUARANTINE AND ISOLATION (effective 1/2022)

Do I isolate if I test positive?

I am unvaccinated, was exposed, but have no symptoms. Quarantine?

I'm vaccinated, was exposed, but have no symptoms. Quarantine?

VACCINE

Is the COVID-19 vaccine required on the Austin College campus?

Is the vaccine available on campus for students, faculty, and staff?

ACADEMICS

How will courses be delivered?

Courses will be delivered remotely the first day of classes, February 1, to accommodate COVID testing of all students. Starting Wednesday, February 2, courses will be delivered face-to-face, with the expectation that students will be physically present in the classroom for all class sessions.
Students who seek accommodations or technology-facilitated adaptations to address documented learning style differences or disabilities should connect with the Austin College’s Academic Skills Center at 903.813.2454.
Students who are sick or need to miss class for any reason should contact their professors directly.

STUDENT LIFE & DINING SERVICES

How will dining services be kept safe?

Capacity limits will be in place to facilitate physical distancing.
The dining hall will be closed for one hour between meal times in the afternoon to allow time for the surfaces to be sanitized.
Hand sanitizer stations are located at the entrance and throughout the dining hall. Everyone is encouraged to sanitize their hands often.
Austin College and Aramark, our partners in food service, reserve the right to adjust the program as needed and in response to any guidance provided by governing agencies and/or the CDC.

Are visitors allowed in the Dining Hall?

If I don’t have a meal plan, can I pay cash in the Dining Hall?

May I bring reusable food containers to the Dining Hall?

How will groups or organizations meet?

ATHLETICS

What is the status of 'Roo athletic teams?

Will spectators be allowed at games?

QUARANTINE and ISOLATION Definitions

Isolation

Quarantine

Close Contact

A close contact is anyone who was within 6 feet of a test-positive person for at least 15 minutes with or without a mask. An infected (symptomatic or asymptomatic) person can spread COVID-19 starting 48 hours (2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19. Someone who is identified as a close contact would be required by Austin College Health Services to quarantine, if not fully vaccinated..
What qualifies as close contact? For example, roommates, study group seated closely at one table, someone seated less than 6 feet away from a classmate, unmasked friends on an outdoor swing for a long conversation.
What does NOT qualify as close contact? For example, passing in the hall, sitting across the classroom, a brief conversation while outdoors and masked, being in class or participating in activities where everyone is masked and practicing social distancing.

Monitoring the Coronavirus

Spring Term 2022 Protocols
Effective March 23, 2022

Frequently Asked Questions

GET IN TOUCH

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Spring Term 2022 Protocols Effective March 23, 2022

Frequently Asked Questions

GET IN TOUCH

GET SOCIAL

GET LINKED

GET CONNECTED

Spring Term 2022 Protocols
Effective March 23, 2022