You may have seen President Alexander’s message or other messages requesting your participation in TRACE-OSU.  I would like to amplify OSU’s request for your participation. OSU will best be able to measure prevalence and help to keep our community healthy by maximizing the number of people enrolled.

Please see the President’s message below for details, and go to this link to enroll.   Furthermore, I would very much appreciate it if you encourage others to enroll.  Thank you.  

–Roy Haggerty, Dean of Science

Welcome to a new academic year – one where it is more important than ever to prioritize your health and the well-being of all community members. Please join me in contributing to a safer community – and learning more about your own wellness – by participating in TRACE OSU COVID-19 testing.

TRACE OSU prevalence testing begins Monday, Sept. 28, on our campuses in Corvallis and Bend and at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. Current faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in this testing by using this link to enroll. Enrolling only takes a few minutes.  

Each week during fall term, up to 1,000 names of faculty, staff and students, who have enrolled to participate in TRACE OSU – and who reside in the Corvallis, Bend or Newport areas – will be drawn randomly from a pool of enrollees and invited by e-mail to be tested. 

Once you have enrolled in TRACE OSU, wait until you receive an e-mail inviting you to be tested. This invitation will include a unique QR code. Please bring that code on your smartphone or on a printed copy of your e-mail invitation to whichever OSU testing site is most convenient for you. There will be two testing sites on the Corvallis campus: one at the Reser Stadium ticket booths and one in the plaza between Kelley Engineering Center and Johnson Hall. Testing will be offered in two HMSC apartments and in a testing center room in Tykeson Hall Room 204 at OSU-Cascades.

Testing will be conducted by the TRACE OSU team and is designed confidential, easy, simple and safe and takes less than five minutes. Your personal information will be kept secure at all times, and your results will be provided to you by secure e-mail, typically within 48 hours. As required, results of positive tests will be provided to the local county health authority to aid in contact tracing.

Meanwhile, OSU will do weekly analysis of wastewater on our Corvallis and OSU-Cascades’ campuses, at HMSC and in the Corvallis, Bend and Newport communities. 

TRACE OSU prevalence results through random COVID-19 testing and wastewater testing will help the university and local county health departments plan, serve those who test positive, and respond to changes in the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19.  

Join me in enrolling now and participating this fall in TRACE OSU.

While testing itself does not prevent the spread of COVID-19, nor are the results guaranteed, testing does provide a sense of your own COVID-19 personal wellness and participation in testing encourages proper personal and public health measures by each us. Because testing is but a snapshot of results at specific time, I ask you always to observe these public health measures:

• Wear a face covering.
• Observe physical and social distancing measures by staying 6 feet apart from others.
• Limit holding or attending social get-togethers of more than 10 people.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Conduct daily personal health checks.
• Stay at home if you are not feeling well or if you test positive for COVID19.
• Get tested by TRACE OSU.

Be well and best of luck this year!

Sincerely,

F. King Alexander

President