Mcard access to non-residential campus buildings has been deactivated for 375 undergraduate students, due to their failure to comply with mandatory COVID-19 testing requirements set forth by the university earlier this term.
Email notifications were sent to the students from the Compliance and Accountability Team on March 2, following multiple attempts by the university to reach students who were identified as being out of compliance with the mandatory testing policy.
U-M announced in February that, in an ongoing effort to protect the campus community from the spread of COVID-19, all students who live, work or learn on campus, or who access campus buildings and facilities will be required to complete weekly COVID-19 testing through the Community Sampling and Tracking Program.
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“The notification sent on Tuesday should not come as a surprise to the recipients,” said Sarah Daniels, associate dean of students and a member of the Compliance and Accountability Team. “Prior to this notification, students were sent reminders via email and ResponsiBLUE that they needed to complete their weekly test because they are in the mandatory testing cohort.”
Loss of building Mcard access is one of the accountability measures put in place to address student compliance with COVID-19 policies. Other measures include probation, canceling housing contracts and referral of the complaint for formal student conduct processes.
The students who received the notification are part of the weekly mandatory testing cohort, but university records indicate they have not received a COVID-19 test through a U-M testing program in more than three weeks, or they do not have a prior test on file and they have used campus facilities at least once this term.
It should also be noted that when applicable, M-Card deactivation for building access will not interfere with access to residence halls for those students residing on campus.
To have their building access reactivated on their Mcard, students can either get tested through the CSTP — or the University Health Service if they are symptomatic — or submit a request for an exemption if they believe they should not be included in the mandatory testing cohort.
Students should then request Mcard reactivation and be able to verify how they resolved the issue. The material submitted by students will be reviewed by the Compliance and Accountability Team.
According to the Compliance and Accountability Team, nearly 98 percent of undergraduate students who live in the residence halls on campus have complied with mandatory testing requirements.
To date, U-M officials report COVID-19 cases related to students continue to decrease significantly and now represent approximately 27 percent of the total cases in Washtenaw County.
Students with questions about their Mcard access related to testing compliance should email COVID19TestingCompliance@umich.edu.
