Stephen F. Austin State University

Greetings, Lumberjacks!

We’re excited to welcome you back to campus for the fall 2022 semester! Although SFA transitioned away from pandemic-level protocols in May 2022, many COVID-19 related resources remain available to the SFA community. We do not currently have a mask or vaccine requirement but strongly encourage their use. Below we’ve shared COVID-19 information and resources to help prepare you to return to the piney woods.

Testing and Vaccines

Health Services continues to offer scheduled testing. Students, faculty and staff may schedule a COVID-19 test through mySFA using the “Schedule a test” link in the important notification section. Health Services anticipates offering COVID-19 testing through December 2022 or until supplies are exhausted. At that time, it is recommended that students, faculty and staff seek testing from their medical provider or other sources, such as an urgent clinic or pharmacy.

You also may order free antigen tests for direct delivery to your home or campus P.O. Box through the U.S. Postal Service. Those can be ordered at special.usps.com/testkits. Health Services will not be acquiring additional COVID-19 vaccines. It is recommended you seek vaccination from your medical provider, pharmacy, through covid.gov or call 211 in Texas.

Employees with health insurance through the Employees Retirement System of Texas have coverage under all HealthSelect of Texas medical plans for certain benefits, such as vaccines and testing, as well as access to virtual treatment options for COVID-19. For the most current information, go to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas’s COVID-19 and Your HealthSelect Plan webpage or call (800) 252-8039 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Reporting a Positive Case and Quarantining

Stay home if you are sick, follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for isolation if you test positive, and report your positive test in mySFA.

Students: by reporting your positive case in mySFA, you are notifying Student Outreach and Support staff members, who will assist you with class absence notifications.

Faculty and staff: by reporting your positive case in mySFA, you are notifying Human Resources of your absence. You are still required to notify your supervisor of your absence and expected return-to-work date.

To understand whether and how long you need to quarantine if you test positive, visit the Isolation and Quarantine information on our website, sfasu.edu/covid19.

On-campus Isolation

On-campus quarantine and isolation rooms will remain available for the foreseeable future. The rooms will be available in each residence hall to allow students who live on campus the opportunity to isolate or quarantine for five days. Each residence hall will have up to three isolation rooms available. If the capacity of the isolation rooms is met, the COVID-19 Operations Team will reconvene to evaluate possible case clusters on campus.

Students isolating on campus will continue to receive meal service from Chartwells during their quarantine or isolation.

Sick Leave Usage

Faculty and staff who plan to use sick leave during a continuous period of more than three working days for an absence due to COVID-19 will provide a doctor’s certificate to their supervisor verifying the employee was out due to medical reasons when returning to work.

This process is required for all illness as described in Policy 12.18 Sick Leave and was waived during the pandemic. With the return to normal operations, COVID-19 is now included in this process.

Employees who test positive for COVID-19 should continue to notify their supervisor, report their positive case in mySFA, and follow CDC guidelines regarding isolation.

Contact Tracing

Contact tracing will remain available through the Dean of Students office. Contact tracing will only occur when a potential cluster is identified, meaning individual cases will no longer be contacted by the tracing team. In the event a cluster is identified, members of the COVID-19 Operations Team will evaluate the event and begin mitigation strategies.