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Members of the SU Community,

Earlier today, some students and employees logged into their GullNet accounts to find a “November 29” test result listed under a new section displaying COVID-19 testing and clearance status for access to campus. Because there was no SU testing on November 29, this has created a degree of confusion.

As messaged to the campus community before and after Thanksgiving break, all students and employees not in isolation or quarantine as of November 29 were granted temporary clearance for campus access, with the condition that they take an SU-administered COVID-19 test this week to maintain access to SU buildings after Sunday, December 6.

Because a negative test is the only outcome that triggers clearance for campus access, the system identified all SU community members who were granted clearance on November 29 — representing the vast majority of students and employees — as having received a negative test result on that day. This is a “back of the house” IT function that has been removed from GullNet until we can provide something that causes less confusion. These changes were put in place so students and employees could regularly check their clearance status and see their testing records.

As stated by President Wight during today’s weekly COVID-19 briefing, early results from this week’s testing are promising, with less than 1 percent of campus community members who tested on Tuesday receiving a positive result. Wednesday’s test results should be available tomorrow and will be posted on the SU COVID-19 webpage as soon as they come in.

All results from this week’s testing should be available by Monday. At that time, campus clearance statuses in GullNet will reflect the most recent test taken by each student and employee.

We are excited that, even as positive cases continue to increase to record highs in Wicomico County, Maryland and the U.S., the University’s positive tests remain extremely low, as they have all semester. SU’s numbers are reported to and verified by the University System of Maryland Baltimore COVID-19 testing laboratory, Maryland Department of Health and Wicomico County Health Department.

Safety is our primary goal, and we look forward to finishing the year strong on campus.