COVID-19 Response
The School of Medicine & Health Sciences is actively monitoring the coronavirus pandemic, also known as COVID-19.
Learn more about UND's Smart Restart plan at UND.edu/covid-19.
See this SMHS policy for scheduling and/or hosting events during the pandemic.
Specific procedures can be read here.
UND Guidelines
UND pandemic guidelines recently have been updated (COVID-19 Updates | University of North Dakota (und.edu)) and include the following overview:
Masking: Masks are recommended but not required on UND's campus.
Because we still have high risk individuals within our campus community, there are a few exceptions to this change:
- Faculty members have the option to require masks within their individual classroom until the conclusion of the Spring 2022 semester.
- Masks are required at Student Health Services and COVID-19 testing sites.
- Programs with clinical requirements that place students or faculty members in contact with vulnerable patients may adopt additional mask requirements.
Because UND’s mitigation and mask policy has and will continue to be informed by local pandemic conditions, there may be changes to the policy in the future.
Event scheduling: To host an SMHS-related event, whether on campus or virtually, please follow this procedure, which takes you to the UND Safety Office event process.
UND SMHS Pandemic Guidelines: Update June 3, 2022
SMHS Guidance for Signs/Symptoms of Illness
The UND SMHS is dedicated to the health and safety of all students, faculty, staff, and patients. The UND SMHS uses reasonable methods to balance the needs of an individual affected by illness while addressing the goals of safety, confidentiality, and health for the individual; and considers the health of others with whom the individual may come in contact.
Students, staff, and faculty with symptoms of illness should contact their primary care provider for guidance.
Students with a physical or health impairment that may impact participation in education by themselves, fellow students, staff, faculty or patients are referred to SMHS Policy 3.7 Health Conditions Impacting Student Participation for All SMHS Students. Students are to inform their department chair and the program director, the associate dean for student affairs and admissions, or their immediate supervisor of a physical or health impairment that may impact their participation or adversely impact others. Students completing clinical rotations/fieldwork experiences should follow the direction of the clinical/fieldwork site (i.e. employee health).
Students, staff, and faculty should follow the UND and CDC Guidance for Isolation and Quarantine when they have symptoms of COVID (SARS-CoV-2), are close contacts of people diagnosed with COVID, or have tested positive for COVID. Quarantine is a prevention strategy, keeping people exposed to COVID apart from others. Quarantine requirements are dependent on vaccination status. Isolation is used to separate people with confirmed or suspected COVID. People in isolation should stay home until it’s safe for them to be around others.
The CDC provides guidelines for quarantine and isolation at: COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation | CDC
Resources
- UND Guidance for Isolation and Quarantine: Isolation and Quarantine Guidance | University of North Dakota (und.edu)
- CDC Guidance for Isolation and Quarantine: COVID-19 Quarantine and Isolation | CDC
- SMHS Policy 3.7 Health Conditions Impacting Student Participation for All SMHS Students https://med.und.edu/policies/_files/docs/3.7-health-conditions-and-participation-2022.pdf
UND SMHS Pandemic Mitigation Policy Update Effective May 1, 2022
- The UND SMHS will no longer require masks or other pandemic mitigation procedures in our buildings or during sanctioned activities as of May 1, 2022.
- Graduation and other events will not require masks, and food/beverages will be allowed (subject to standard UND policies re: alcohol, safety precautions, etc.).
- Notwithstanding the elimination of a requirement for masks, SMHS leadership still welcomes and encourages/supports mask use in buildings and for group events.
- All participants at graduation and other events are strongly encouraged to self-test for COVID-19 prior to the event, and to not attend if positive or if the individual has any suggestive symptoms, regardless of test results. For those who want them, test kits are available at no cost outside of Room E468 in the UND SMHS building on the Grand Forks campus or through the regional campus deans’ offices in Fargo, Bismarck and Minot.
- The virus has proven how unpredictable it can be. Accordingly, this policy update is subject to further modification in the future if conditions warrant further changes.
April 15, 2022
From Dean Wynne: "In view of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the spike in cases in various locations, and the resumption of mask requirements at several elite universities, the UND SMHS will continue its current mask requirements beyond April 15 until the end of the spring semester. It remains our hope that relaxation of these requirements still will be possible for the various planned end-of-semester/graduation events."
SMHS COVID Response
Project ECHO: COVID-19
Update and Infection Prevention and Control Methods
- Presenter: Paul Carson, M.D.
- Login required. Contact Julie Reiten for assistance.
Project ECHO: COVID-19
Provider Well-Being During COVID-19
- Presenter: Andrew McLean, M.D.
- Login required. Contact Julie Reiten for assistance.
The UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences (UND SMHS) Deeded Body Program resumed accepting whole body donations on a limited basis on March 1, 2021. For a complete guide to donors specifics, please visit our UND SMHS Deeded Body Program website.
Resources for faculty who are teaching online:
- Going Online in a Hurry (Chronicle of Higher Education)
- Basic Teaching Strategies and Their Online Translations
- Instructional Design
- Teaching & Learning Resource Repository
Contact the UND Teaching, Transformation and Development Academy (TTaDA) for assistance with:
Information Resources has compiled a variety of Remote Access options to help faculty, staff and students during this time. Information Resources can also help with questions regarding Mediasite and Sharepoint.
Library Resources has compiled a research guide with information pertinent to the COVID-19 pandemic. This page includes information about the ways in which librarians can supplement your online courses, as well as links to information made free by a variety of scholarly publishers and information to help keep you healthy as you transition to a new work environment.
Do you have a question? Please Ask a Librarian!
Consistent with University guidance for University staff, Program Directors will inform residents/fellows about their expectations in the event that residents/fellows experience illness including:
- If residents/fellows feel sick, they should notify their immediate supervisor and Program Director and go home.
- Residents/Fellows should not try to “tough it out” and continue working if feeling ill.
- Instead of taking leave, the preference is for residents/fellows to work from home such as studying for an in-service exam or board certification, research, etc.; however, work from home is at the discretion of the Program Director and resident/fellow.
Questions or concerns should be referred to Kim Becker.
For anyone who is interested, Dr. Andrew McLean, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, adapted a presentation called Resilience to address COVID.
Imaging Core
The Imaging Core is instituting the following new policies designed to minimize person-to-person contact and to maintain a safe environment for users and staff. If you have questions, please contact either Sarah Abrahamson or Bryon Grove.
- Training of new users is being curtailed until activity on the UND campus returns to normal. As an alternative, those individuals who need microscopy data for their research will be able to submit samples to Sarah Abrahamson and have the core staff collect the images for them. Please contact Sarah Abrahamson or Dr. Grove to make arrangements.
- For trained users who have straightforward microscopy work to do, we strongly recommend that they also arrange to have core staff collect their microscopy data. Again please contact Sarah Abrahamson or Dr. Grove to make these arrangements.
- If trained core users have complex microscopy work that requires them to use the equipment, they must contact Sarah Abrahamson or Dr. Grove beforehand so that we can ensure that they are aware of the safety and decontamination procedures we have put in place. Users will be required to wear gloves, provided by the core facility, when handling the microscopy equipment and they must notify core facility staff when they are done so that the equipment can be decontaminated.
Please note that a remote session utilizing Zoom is a viable option for most of our equipment. Users will be able to see both the staff member and the equipment screen, which will allow them to guide the staff member during image collection.
Genomics Core
The Genomics Core facility will remain open for business for new and ongoing projects. However, it is taking steps to minimize person-to-person contact and to maintain a safe environment for users and staff.
- Until further notice, it is not allowing any personal sample drop-off to core labs. All samples need to be submitted in the drop-off freezer.
- All one-on-one and group meetings to discuss data analysis and project discussion will be scheduled through Zoom.
- Please email queries about a letter of support, budget and technical questions for a grant proposal or any other questions to Sergei Nechaev.
It is possible that some services may be delayed due to logistics of ordering and shipping reagents and samples. We are making every effort to eliminate any negative impacts of the current situation and we are looking forward to helping everyone maintain their research productivity.
FAQs
This bill had two intents: 1) to target dollars to students who are most at risk financially, so they used the number of Pell grant recipients to determine what dollars went where, and 2) since one of the challenges in many institutions was the shift to online education, they targeted the dollars to the institutions that had to make more of a shift to online. UND was doing more online instruction than NDSU. The percentage according to the federal government was 26% at UND purely online and only 11% at NDSU. Thus NDUS received more CARES funding.
The CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund-IHE/Student Aid provides funding to institutions to provide emergency financial aid grants to students. Furthermore, institutions have the responsibility of determining how grants will be distributed to students and how the amount of each student grant is calculated. As stated above, institutions are responsible for determining awards; UND main campus financial aid awarded emergency grant funding to undergraduate students. Medical (and graduate/law) students were not awarded emergency grants.
Absolutely! We’ve focused on virtual care in the past, but we can do more. Dr. Wynne invites all faculty to design curricula for all students that helps better prepare them for these public health threats.
No. The learning objectives, content and credits earned (where applicable) remain the same, and is no cheaper to deliver online.
There are many funding sources being considered for reimbursement of some COVID expenses. The School will report these expenses to the State Board of Higher Education and the state Legislature. While the end result is uncertain at this time, it's easier to keep track now than to have to go back and calculate later.
No. UND has made the submission of ACT/SAT scores an optional part of student applications.
Dining Services has created a Quarantine/Isolation Order form.
See the instructions for hosting events during the pandemic at the top of this page.
Generally, you are encouraged to convert your in-person event to a virtual format. Virtual events don't require UND SMHS approval, but do require submission of the UND Event Approval Form.
Off-campus events still require UND VP approval, but do not require an Event Approval Form.
Updated 9/6//2021