About 150 University of Maryland students have been referred to the Office of Student Conduct for visiting campus while in noncompliance with COVID-19 testing requirements so far this semester, according to university spokesperson Katie Lawson.
To be cleared to visit campus, students and employees are required to confirm they have received a negative test for COVID-19, complete a daily symptom check, watch a video on coronavirus safety precautions and sign a pledge that they will follow the precautions. According to Lawson, students who are noncompliant with testing requirements receive two warning letters before being referred to the Office of Student Conduct.
Students who are referred to the office are required to attend an information session about the disciplinary process and meet with office staff to evaluate possible violations and if sanctions are warranted, Lawson wrote in an email.
Employees and their supervisors are notified daily if they are noncompliant with testing requirements, Lawson wrote. After continuous days of noncompliance, notifications are moved up to the vice president level. The university handles disciplinary action for employees on a case-by-case basis.
[UMD lifts at least 10 suspensions after issuing 19 for noncompliance with COVID-19 rules]
The university is using the campus Wi-Fi network and campus building lock system to monitor student and employee compliance with testing rules, according to the university’s data policy.
Though information about the campus buildings individuals visit and the date they do so has been collected automatically by the school’s Wi-Fi and lock system for years to support “normal campus maintenance of these systems,” according to the data policy, this data is now being cross-checked with health form completion data amid the coronavirus pandemic. The data is retained for 90 days and then destroyed.
Supervisors are only alerted of the date and name of building their employees enter — not the time they do so or their location within the building, according to the data policy.
The data from the campus building locking system and Wi-Fi network about visits to campus can also be used for contact tracing, according to the data policy.
