Fall 2022
Here's what you need to know to have a successful fall:
• COVID-19 testing protocols >
• Masking >
• Resources for students, faculty and staff >
COVID-19 testing protocols
Penn State has paused its required COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff.
Although required COVID-19 testing is paused, testing will continue to be available to students who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
Faculty and staff should seek testing through their health care provider or other local COVID-19 testing options. Symptomatic employees should stay home from work and are advised to schedule an appointment with their health care provider for testing.
Free at-home rapid tests provided by the U.S. government are available to be ordered online at covidtests.gov. Additionally, individuals with private health insurance coverage or who are covered by a group health plan are eligible to have up to eight at-home COVID-19 tests covered by their insurance provider per month.
Masking
The University strongly recommends face masks be worn indoors on campuses in counties designated by the CDC to have high COVID-19 Community Levels.
Even on campuses in counties with low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels, the University encourages anyone who wishes to wear mask indoors on these campuses to continue to do so.
Face masks are required in facilities providing health care and in other locations where required by law, including indoors at the College of Medicine, Penn State Health locations, University Health Services and other campus health care centers.
Employees at Penn State who work in their own individual offices may request that visitors wear masks while in their private offices, and faculty may request that their students wear masks during classes. The University asks that community members cooperate respectfully with these requests.
Resources for students, faculty and staff
Resources are available on our Students and Families page to help students have a successful semester. There, students will find important information on academic support, travel guidelines, student services, housing and dining, wellness and more.
Visit the Faculty and Staff page for comprehensive teaching resources, as well as guidelines for campus visitors, meetings and events; guidelines for working on campus; travel guidelines; and employee support resources. On-campus research-related activities continue to operate according to their established safety procedures.
Latest updates
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Many rapid antigen test kits expiration dates have been extended. Please refer to this FDA website to check on expiration date extensions. If your test kits are confirmed as expired, please dispose of them and obtain new test kits.
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Faculty and staff who have symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home from work, contact their supervisor and their primary care provider and get tested for COVID-19.
If the test result is positive, the employee should continue to stay home from work and contact their supervisor regarding taking time off or working remotely.
Faculty and staff with a positive test result also should:- Complete the COVID-19 Positive Form online.
- Upon completion of the COVID-19 Form, the employee and their supervisor will receive important information via email regarding their status.
- The employee should utilize appropriate earned time off COV Reason Codes
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The University strongly recommends face masks be worn indoors on campuses in counties designated by the CDC to have high COVID-19 Community Levels.
Even on campuses in counties with low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels, the University encourages anyone who wishes to wear mask indoors on these campuses to continue to do so.
Face masks are required in facilities providing health care and in other locations where required by law, including indoors at the College of Medicine, Penn State Health locations, University Health Services and other campus health care centers.
Masks also are required for some in-person human subjects research. Masking is optional for in-person human subjects research that recruits healthy participants; for studies recruiting high-risk participants (as defined by the CDC), masking continues to be required for both participants and study team members at all indoor locations.
Employees at Penn State who work in their own individual offices on mask-optional campuses may request that visitors wear masks while in their private offices, and faculty may request that their students wear masks during classes. The University asks that community members cooperate respectfully with these requests.
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