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Ursuline’s pandemic protocols are informed by close consultation with experts from Cleveland Clinic and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and follow the guidelines of the State of Ohio Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This page tracks testing and confirmed cases among our community members and is updated every Wednesday.
Below are frequently asked questions. To read more in-depth updates, including information about federal relief funds, go to our Coronavirus News Section. Additional updates are available to Ursuline students, faculty, and staff on the College's intranet, MyUrsuline, where a log-in is required.
Surveillance testing of those not up to date with COVID-19 vaccines is paused while Cuyahoga County remains in the low transmission level but will resume in accordance with CDC guidelines if another surge occurs. Current CDC recommendations for low transmission level areas call for testing at the beginning of each semester for those not up to date with vaccination.
Yes! Our classrooms have been equipped so that we can provide face-to-face instruction with virtual learning for those who are in isolation or quarantine, for most courses.
All in-person course meetings follow strict guidelines requiring facial coverings for all, asking for those not vaccinated to practice social distancing, and other protocols to maintain health and safety.
In accordance with CDC recommendations given Cuyahoga County’s low level of community spread of COVID-19, effective Monday, March 28, 2022, masks are optional across campus, including in classrooms, with the following exceptions. Mask wearing remains mandatory in science labs, art studios, and Nursing Resource Center spaces (main skills lab, health assessment lab, and simulation room), given the length of time that students and faculty spend near one another there and the NRC’s modeling of the clinical environment, where masks are still required. After returning to campus from five days of isolation (because you had COVID-19 symptoms, or tested positive, or were exposed to someone who tested positive) you are expected to wear a mask on campus for an additional five days in accordance with the CDC’s current isolation recommendations. Athletes will continue to abide by NCAA rules regarding masking.CDC still recommends masks indoors for those not up to date with vaccines (which the CDC defines as those greater than six months from their second dose or greater than two months from their first dose without a booster), and those with underlying health conditions. You may be asked to wear a mask during a meeting or in a classroom, either due to proximity or due to individual vulnerability. Some members of our community, including students, faculty, and staff, may have underlying medical conditions, live with someone who has medical conditions, or have other circumstances which require them to continue to exercise caution. Any time you are asked to wear a mask, we count on you to do so, exercising respect, one of our four core values.
Those who are not up to date on their COVID vaccinations should maintain social distance from others. A culture of shared responsibility will help us avoid infection.
We continue to urge all members of our campus community to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 as soon as possible, toward the goals of protecting your own health and promoting herd immunity on our campus and in our larger communities. Find a COVID vaccine near you.
Thank you for taking care of yourselves and, in the spirit of Saint Angela Merici, considering the health and well-being of others.
Beyond vaccination, the most important steps we can take are also pretty simple steps: wash hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds each time; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
Students, faculty and staff are all required to assess their own symptoms daily, watching for:
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
This list does not include all possible symptoms.
Ursuline students should use this form to report experiencing symptoms of COVID, exposure to COVID, and/or COVID test results. Once you have submitted this form, the Ursuline COVID Help Team can offer support and guidance.
We will urge any resident student who tests positive to recover in their permanent home. Faculty will provide online instruction. If that is not possible, students who live in a single room in the residence halls can isolate there and have meals delivered while they recover. Any resident who develops COVID-19 but does not have a single room will be offered one.
The CDC issued revised guidelines on Dec. 27, 2021.
If you test positive, isolate for 5 days, and then you may return to campus if your symptoms are gone. Continue masking even off campus for the next 5 days.
If you have been exposed to someone and you have been boosted (or been vaccinated within certain timelines, as described in above CDC link), you need to mask for 10 days but you don’t have to stay home in quarantine, unless you have symptoms. CDC recommends a test at Day 5.
If you have been exposed to someone and you have not been boosted (or been vaccinated within certain timelines, as described in above CDC link), you must stay home in quarantine for 5 days and mask for an additional 5 days. CDC recommends a test at Day 5.
Our goal is to maintain on-campus presence that enables us to offer valuable faculty-student interactions, at the same time that we protect the health and safety of the Ursuline College community. COVID circumstances continue to evolve, however. For this reason, the Ursuline College administration pledges to continue to monitor guidelines from the State of Ohio, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, and the CDC. Students, faculty and staff are urged to stay on top of campus developments by reading Ursuline emails daily.
