Each employee is responsible for monitoring their health for any of the following symptoms and should not report to work if any are present: 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, and diarrhea.
COVID-19 employee guidance
Latest messages from the UniversityFace masks, testing and contact tracing
Face masks
Based upon legal guidance provided by NSHE, our University lifted the campus mask mandate. Pursuant to Nevada law, NSHE employees, students and members of the public are no longer required to wear face coverings while inside NSHE buildings irrespective of vaccination status.
N95 respirators available
The University is distributing N95 respirators to faculty, staff and students through individual schools, colleges and units. OSHA requires anyone receiving an N95 respirator to read the following information on voluntary N95 use during COVID-19.
COVID-19 testing
Free walk-in COVID-19 testing is available for students, faculty and staff at the Student Health Center. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
Four free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests are available for order and shipment through the United States Postal Service.
Contact tracing
Due to the number of people testing positive for COVID-19, contact tracing is limited to notifying the individual employee who has tested positive. An employee who tests positive should notify their supervisor and are encouraged to complete our COVID-19 self-reporting form. Supervisors are responsible for notifying other employees working in the immediate area of a person diagnosed that a positive case has been reported. Below is some suggested language for the notice to other employees:
I received notification today that an employee in the department tested positive. The employee was last in the department on mm/dd. Please review and follow all mitigation efforts. See FAQ on HR's COVID-19 guidance for employees page."
The following must be followed in the event of COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test
Employees must use regular leave (either sick leave or annual leave) for all absences related to COVID-19. Administrative Leave with Pay is no longer available for COVID-19-related absences.
Remote work may be available for employees who test positive for COVID-19 and are required to quarantine. Authorization of temporary remote work is at the discretion of the department.
Employees must use regular leave (either sick leave or annual leave) for all absences related to COVID-19. Administrative Leave with Pay is no longer available for COVID-19-related absences.
Employees are responsible for obtaining supporting test results or documentation from a treating medical provider and providing it to their department. If the employee has taken an at-home COVID-19 test an image of the result will be sufficient for documentation purposes.
Remote work may be available for employees that test positive for COVID-19 and are required to quarantine. Authorization of temporary remote work is at the discretion of the department.
If you have a positive test, you are encouraged to fill out a COVID-19 reporting form to assist with contact tracing.
Regardless of vaccination status, anyone testing positive for COVID-19, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, must isolate for a minimum of 5 days.
After self-isolating for five days:
If you are symptomatic, continue to have a fever, and/or your symptoms have not improved after five days of isolation, you should continue to self-isolate for an additional 5 days for a total of 10 days of self-isolation, and wait to end your isolation until the following criteria are met:
- At least 24 hours have passed with no fever and without the use of fever-reducing medicine; AND
- Other symptoms are improving (loss of taste and smell might last for weeks or months after recovery but should not delay ending isolation).
If you are still asymptomatic or if your symptoms are resolving, you can discontinue isolation. Before discontinuing isolation, it is strongly recommended that you obtain a COVID-19 Antigen Test (Rapid Test) after day 5.
- If you are tested after day 5 and your COVID-19 Antigen test is still positive after day 5, you should continue to self-isolate for an additional 5 days for a total of 10 days of self-isolation.
- If you are tested after day 5 and your COVID-19 Antigen test comes back negative, you should continue to wear a mask around others for five additional days (ten days in total).
Calculating your isolation period:
- If you are symptomatic, your first day of symptoms is considered Day Zero. Day One is the first full day after your symptoms develop; alternatively
- If you are asymptomatic and did not develop symptoms, Day Zero is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested), and Day One is the first full day after the specimen was collected for your positive test.
If you have a positive test, you are encouraged to fill out a COVID-19 reporting form to assist with contact tracing.
If you develop symptoms, get tested immediately and self-isolate until after you receive your results. If positive, stay home and follow directions listed for those who are positive with COVID-19.
Faculty and staff COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters
COVID-19 vaccine requirement removed for NSHE employees
Current and new employees are no longer subject to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirement. The Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents voted to remove their emergency amendment to the NSHE Code, effective July 1, 2022.
Get voluntarily vaccinated or get a booster
Free COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters are available through the Student Health Center. Call (775) 784-6598 to schedule your appointment. Other providers include the following:
COVID-19 FAQ for instructors
Except for the Student Health Center, where masks are required, a faculty member shall not require a student to wear a mask.
However, individuals may want to continue to wear a mask for additional protection against COVID-19. Students, faculty, staff and visitors are welcome to wear masks while at the University. Individuals should assess their own personal health risks when making this decision.
The required communications sequence when a student tests positive in a classroom or a lab setting is as follows:
- When a student receives a positive COVID-19 result from the Student Health Center, or self-reports their positive case, the Student Health Center will initiate a contract tracing process.
- The person testing positive is to isolate immediately, per CDC recommendations.
- The Provost Office will then contact the student’s instructors via email informing them of the positive case in their class. The student will not be identified.
- For in-person courses, instructors should notify students that there has been a positive case reported in class.
- If there has been notification of a positive case in a classroom, any vaccinated students in the classroom who are having symptoms should not attend class and should get a COVID-19 test. Any student testing positive must isolate for a minimum of 5 days even if asymptomatic.
- It is most important to ensure the student who tested positive does not attend class during their isolation period. The isolation period for someone testing positive for COVID-19 is a minimum of 5 days from the start of symptoms or if asymptomatic 5 days from the testing date. If symptoms are resolving after 5 days and the student has not had a fever within the past 24 hours, they may return to class or to work. If symptoms continue, the isolation period should continue for an additional 5 days.
- Having a student test positive or symptom-positive student in a classroom/lab does not mean the class needs to be cancelled or taught remotely. Instructors should not conduct their in-person classes remotely unless they have received a specific public health directive to do so or have been contacted by the Office of the Provost or the University’s chief medical officer Dr. Cheryl Hug-English.
- Instructors must provide students who have tested positive opportunities to make up missed course work, including assignments, quizzes or exams. In courses with mandatory attendance policies, instructors must not penalize students for missing classes due to a positive COVID-19 test. In addition, instructors should not penalize symptom-positive students who miss class because the student is acting out of an abundance of caution while awaiting test results. It is the instructor’s prerogative whether to record classes for or provide synchronous remote access to students who are in isolation due to a positive COVID-19 test or who are awaiting the results of their COVID-19 test.
While we are working to notify faculty about positive COVID-19 cases, please be aware this may not occur in every situation due to circumstances beyond the University’s control. Faculty members are only notified if a student has attended their class while infectious, and the student has either been tested at the Student Health Center or completed a COVID-19 self-reporting form. However, students can test in many other community locations or with a home test, in which case the Student Health Center may not be notified. We acknowledge that there are instances where a student may learn of a positive test result, not report the result to the Student Health Center and go directly to their instructor with the result. Faculty in these instances should advise their student to fill out the self-reporting form so that the University is aware.
Instructors are advised, if a student tests positive in one of their classes, to get a COVID-19 test themselves five (5) days if they have had close contact (less than six feet for more than 15 minutes) or sooner if they are exhibiting symptoms.
In the event an instructor tests positive for COVID, isolation should begin immediately. Consultation with the chair or dean, should also begin immediately as to what next steps should be in presenting material to your class during the isolation period.
Having a student test positive or symptom-positive student in a classroom/lab does not mean the class needs to be cancelled or taught remotely. Instructors should not conduct their in-person classes remotely unless they have received a specific public health directive to do so or have been contacted by the Office of the Provost or the University’s chief medical officer Dr. Cheryl Hug-English.