Student Symptom Tracker to keep Novos safe
New College is holding a giveaway for all students who complete the COVID symptom tracker between Mon. Feb. 15 and Fri. Feb. 19. Five students will be drawn at random to win a variety of New College swag.
At the end of January, New College rolled out a homegrown Student Symptom Tracker to help Novos stay vigilant about their health during the pandemic.
Three weeks in, the concept—developed by the team in the Office of Information Technology (IT)—is off to a promising start.
“The tracker satisfies the need of continuing to promote a commitment to campus safety and the wellbeing of students during this pandemic,” said Christie Fitz-Patrick, the associate vice president of administrative affairs at New College. “The system allows for a student, on a daily basis, to record whether they have come in contact with COVID-19 and if they are feeling any symptoms.”
For the safety of the entire campus community, it is required for all New College students to complete the tracker every day. Students who do not plan to return to campus still need to register their information with the tracker to ensure that New College leadership is aware of whether or not they will be onsite.
Located on the myNCF portal, the tracker asks each student to answer three questions about their health. Once this process is finished, the student receives an email with either a green checkmark ✔ (indicating that they can come to campus) or a red X (indicating that they need to remain in place until a member of the University of South Florida (USF) Student Health Services (SHS) staff reaches out to them to assess their situation).
This new tracker—designed specifically for New College—is an alternative to USF’s health checker app, which New College students were asked to use in the fall. Because New College lacks a medical or public health school for in-house advice, SHS on the adjacent USF Sarasota-Manatee campus has provided all medical services to students.
However, last semester, New College students reported numerous technical difficulties with the USF-based app—from issues with creating USF NetIDs to forgetting passwords. The New College tracker seems to have resolved some of those dilemmas, as students are now required to log into the tracker with their standard NCF usernames and passwords.
Faculty and staff at New College are still expected to continue using their own Daily Symptom Checker—a dynamic form on the myNCF portal (built by the IT staff and leveraged by the Human Resources Department).
Random and walkup testing will continue to be conducted on campus from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday outside Sudakoff Conference Center (photo ID is required).
And COVID-19 student liaisons (second-year Oci Krasny and thesis student Courtney Miller) encourage New College students to share pandemic-related questions with them. They even set up an anonymous “COVID Concerns” tip line.
Having difficulty with the tracker? Call the help desk at 941-487-4350.
To review New College’s campus updates, policies and procedures regarding COVID-19, visit ncf.edu/covid-19
For flow charts on what to do after testing positive, coming in contact with someone who has tested positive, or if you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, visit:
ncf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CWC-CovidFlowchart-PositiveTest-Final-V2.pdf
ncf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CWC-CovidFlowchart-ContactPositive-Final-V2.pdf
ncf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CWC-CovidFlowchart-Symptoms-Final-V2.pdf
To take a test at the nearby Robert L. Taylor Community Complex, visit scgov.net/government/health-and-human-services/covid-19-coronavirus/covid-19-testing
Abby Weingarten is the senior editor in the Office of Communications & Marketing.