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During these uncertain times, as the university works to make sure things are more certain, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) has been working to help ensure the safe return to campus with the new COVID-19 attestation questionnaire online form. 

Craig Campbell, development manager for Research and Shared Services, and Bethany Nieman, business process analyst for Planning, Strategy and Analysis are responsible for creating this smooth transition onto campus, calling the new app their “brain child”. All staff, faculty and students who have been approved to be on campus are required to complete the attestation form as well as meet at checkpoints set across campus every day. The online form can be completed prior to arrival on campus that day and includes which building will be your primary location, a symptom tracker, whether you’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19, and other related questions. 

Data from the attestation app can be exported, analyzed, and recorded to see where people have been if contract tracing is needed. Once you complete the questionnaire, you will receive a confirmation email that you will show as you go through your designated check-in point. On the Anschutz Medical Campus around 2,000 staff and vendors utilized the app and almost 400 students thus far. On the CU Denver campus, a few hundred have undergone this new process.

When asked about the drive behind the attestation app Campbell says, “It's exciting and satisfying to be a part of this effort to safely return staff and students not only to the Anschutz campus, but other CU and Colorado campuses. It's been an opportunity to contribute back during a time that has been challenging for all of us.” Staff, faculty, and volunteers are working tirelessly to ensure students have the resources they need for their education. 

One researcher warns that we are still “knee deep” in the first wave of Coronavirus. If this virus acts as others have, things will only escalate for the worst during flu season. It is important that we take all precautions and this app is the first step. Everyone who is invited back to campus this semester will be required to complete the attestation app information before your on-campus return. 

There are some things you need to know:

• Everyone at these checkpoints are volunteers. They are giving their time to make sure that you are safe. 
• Next, remember to wear your mask. To be on campus you are required to wear a mask. This is for your own safety, and also for the people around you. New research shows that if everyone wears a mask we can cut down on Coronavirus cases exponentially.
• And finally, please wash your hands! 

As a team we can make this return to campus as safe as possible. Stay healthy, stay safe and we will see you this fall.

Additional resources and citations:

• Campus resource sites: CU Denver Safe Return to Campus or CU Anschutz Return to Campus 
• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Case data. (2020, July 19). Retrieved July 20, 2020, from https://covid19.colorado.gov/data/case-data
• CNN Health: See how a cough travels with and without a mask
• Texas A&M University. (2020, June 12). Face masks critical in preventing spread of COVID-19: Study found that wearing a face mask stopped person-to-person spread of the virus. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 20, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/ releases/2020/06/200612172200.htm