All residents living in the University Residence Halls are required to be tested for COVID-19 about every three days. During the academic year, appointments must be scheduled in the Safer Badgers app. The app will tell students when they need to complete their next test in order to stay in compliance. For the spring semester, you will not be assigned to specific testing days. Appointments can be scheduled up to one week in advance.
This requirement is part of our Student Housing Handbook that all residents must abide by. If students do not comply with testing or other policies, other than certain approved exceptions*, they can receive disciplinary action or even be removed from the residence halls. Noncompliance will also affect a student’s access to campus buildings through the Badger Badge in the app.
Testing Instructions
For details on scheduling appointments, testing locations, preparing for your test, what to expect, and getting test results, visit the Spring 2021 COVID-19 Testing page.
Residents should primarily schedule their appointments at one of the Housing testing sites (Holt Center or Ogg Hall, open Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm, beginning January 20) when possible. Other campus testing sites can be used after hours or on weekends if needed.
Housing testing sites (Holt and Ogg) will continue to use the nasal swab testing method. Please note that testing preparation instructions in the Safer Badgers app are written for the saliva testing method used at other campus sites. For the nasal swab testing at Housing sites, it is not necessary to avoid eating, drinking, or smoking before your test.
Missed Tests
If you miss your required tests, you must be tested ASAP. There will be follow-up regarding missing the twice-weekly test(s). Testing the next week does not make up for missed test(s) the week prior.
If you have already or plan to leave your residence hall for a period of a week or longer and will be unable to be tested during that time, log in to My UW Housing and click the link under “Temporary Vacate Room” so that we can temporarily remove you from communications to residents who are staying. We recommend providing proof of a negative COVID-19 test to University Health Services (UHS) before you return to your residence hall.
After Receiving Your Results
- Negative: continue to schedule and attend your ongoing testing appointments using the Safer Badgers app
- Positive: you will be required to move to isolation housing on campus
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- You will receive an email and a follow-up call from staff with details on your isolation accommodations — staff can also help answer any questions you have
- Bring supplies you’ll need for at least the next 10 days
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Students Who Previously Tested Positive
If you tested positive for COVID-19 and have recovered, you may be exempt from quarantine, isolation, or future testing for 90 days after your positive test. The determination will be made by a University Health Services (UHS) clinician after reviewing documentation of the prior test result.
Prior positive on-campus test results are being imported into the Safer Badgers app and will be viewable by January 25. If you have a prior positive test from off campus, you can upload it via the Safer Badgers app.
Students will not be exempted from isolation or future testing based solely on a self-report of a positive test or COVID-19 illness. It is common to continue to test positive for a period of time after recovering from COVID-19, so submit documentation as soon as possible to assure that your proof of a prior positive result has been reviewed.
If you test positive and your prior result has not been submitted and reviewed, you will be required to go to isolation until your results are received and reviewed. Students who test positive will be moved to an isolation room for 10 days.
Note: If you received your test result via a phone call and do not have a dated paper or electronic copy of the actual result, contact the clinic or public health department that conducted the testing to request documentation. If you are unable to locate documentation of your results, UHS staff will help you in obtaining the documentation.