Students noncompliant with campus COVID-19 testing requirements will be locked out of more than 400 online university resources starting at 4 a.m. tomorrow, President Jeffrey Armstrong said in a campus-wide email.
Students accessing campus and the students who live with those who do are mandated to test every three days through Cal Poly’s Ongoing Testing Program. Those currently noncompliant with testing requirements will face Single Sign-On (SSO) restrictions unless they test by 4 a.m. tomorrow.
Armstrong enacted SSO restrictions in his presidential order that took effect on Jan. 4. Without SSO access, students will be locked out of resources including the Cal Poly portal, Canvas, Zoom and their Cal Poly email until testing requirements are met.
Compliance status is shown under the Cal Poly portal “COVID-19 Info” tab, where the Ongoing Testing Program lists a student’s next testing date. On this page, students can also upload test results from an off-campus site. Those who failed to meet their latest test due date received emails from the university warning them of the SSO restrictions to come.
More than 95% of students are compliant with testing as of today, according to Armstrong. He added that it’s “worth celebrating” that about 5,000 students tested on-campus yesterday.
Armstrong said if COVID-19 spread remains low in the community, “we may be able to consider lowering the frequency of testing.” According to Cal Poly’s COVID-19 dashboard, in the last seven days four on-campus students and 29 off-campus students have tested positive for the virus.
“Ongoing testing is an important tool in our efforts to quickly identify, isolate and care for those with COVID-19,” Armstrong said in the email. “It’s also critical for making our campus a safe place to live, learn and work.”
As vaccine eligibility opens to everyone 16-years-old and older in the coming weeks, Armstrong emphasized that fully vaccinated students who access campus will still be required to comply with testing.