WVU mandates covid-19 testing and education; Pitt to require students to quarantine

West Virginia University will require students to get a covid-19 test and complete an education module on the virus prior to returning to campus next month.

Those who fail to meet those requirements could be fined $250, school officials warned Tuesday.

Like colleges across the region, WVU has published a series of student advisories about social distancing and the need to wear masks on campus, but it is the first school to require all students, faculty and staff to undergo testing for the virus.

The university is piloting a new covid-19 online education module with WVU-specific content in conjunction with a company called Get Inclusive, WVU spokeswoman April Kaull said.

“WVU is serving as a pilot for this module – although it is going to be utilized by other institutions,” Kaull said.

Closer to home, the University of Pittsburgh says it will select up to 400 students a day to test for covid-19 at its Oakland campus before the start of classes this fall.

Although Pitt has stopped short of requiring testing, an advisory on the university’s website says “students living in university housing will be required to shelter in place in their homes for seven days prior to coming to campus and for seven more days once on campus.”

Unlike WVU, Pitt is not threatening sanctions. Nor has the university said how it intends to enforce that requirement or verify that students have indeed met it.

A Pitt spokesman said the university will release additional guidance soon. The university said separate advisories will go out to students at its regional campuses in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville.

On Tuesday, Pitt sent emails to incoming students at its Oakland campus, advising them of their housing assignments.

The university said 25% of the first-time students at the campus will be housed in three nearby hotels to reduce the density of living conditions during the covid-19 pandemic.

College and university leaders across the nation who shuttered campuses last spring and went to online education to mitigate the spread of covid-19 have been scrambling in recent weeks to meet the myriad challenges of safely reopening residential campuses.

Universal testing and best practices for reopening have been the topic of lengthy debate at countless Zoom meetings among leaders in higher education and public health in recent weeks.

Some schools, including Harvard, MIT, the University of Southern California and West Chester University of Pennsylvania, have already decided to remain strictly online this fall. Many, like Pitt and WVU are offering students hybrid options including both online and in-person classes. And many privately are fearful they could be forced back into remote learning modes should the virus surge when students return.