In order to help students with testing, symptoms and contact tracing, Marquette introduced COVID Cheq to the student body last semester. This system allows students to enter their symptoms into a web browser that will then allow them access to campus buildings, or information to go get tested on campus.
Since the university started the 2020-2021 school year, over 1,000 total COVID-19 cases have been reported at Marquette University.
“I feel like the COVID Cheq system had good intentions but I don’t think it was utilized appropriately,” Komal Khatari, sophomore in the College of Health Sciences, said. “At first I would make sure to take my temperature every morning, but eventually I found myself quickly doing it in the dining hall for breakfast. It became muscle memory.”
But this semester, a new feature has been rolled in for staff: a class list feature that allows faculty to check who has, and has not done their COVID Cheq.
“The class lists report allows an instructor to verify quickly whether students have completed COVID Cheq,” John Su, vice provost for academic affairs, said. “All of the same information in the report was available to instructors last semester but it was more cumbersome and time-consuming to access.”
The reporting function does not allow faculty to see certain students’ results of their COVID Cheq, but only whether or not they have completed it, according to Marquette’s information site on the new feature. The report also refreshes every 20 minutes, to ensure all results are up to date.
Su said last semester, faculty were asking for a “less cumbersome way” to verify that a student had done their mandatory screening. At the time, the only way was to show the actual results in person.
“It provides one more way to remind everyone of the importance of completing COVID Cheq daily as part of our institutional risk mitigation efforts,” Su said.
Although this new feature doesn’t systematically change anything for students, Su said there is still a large emphasis to continue the daily screening and that the Marquette community is in this together as “we navigate through this next stage of the pandemic.”
Another change that COVID Cheq will have is that it will now notify students who have been selected for weekly surveillance testing and whether or not the university is on a high alert level.
“It serves as that sort of communication tool,” Laurie Panella, chief officer of information, said.
As of now, the university remains at a moderate alert level, as compared to last year when the university was put on a high alert level going into the end of the semester. The university changed to a moderate alert level when the spring semester started.
“The original intent (for the class list) was to take something that could be time-consuming for staff and faculty members … and really simplify it and give them something else that is quick and easy so they can check it before class,” Panella said.
The checklist feature is available for staff members and faculty through a hyperlink on D2L for access to viewing.
Overall, COVID Cheq will still serve the same purpose as last year, allowing students to get more information about COVID-19 on campus, testing options, and a transparent relationship with the university about symptoms and contacts in order to help mitigate the spread.
This story was written by Benjamin Wells. He can be reached at [email protected].
