Student Acknowledgment and Testing Consent

Posted: July 29, 2021

Dear Students, 

We are looking forward to welcoming you back in just a few short weeks for the 2021-2022 Academic year.

To hold ourselves and others accountable for following Gannon’s health and safety standards, all students will be required to complete the Student Acknowledgment of Mutual Respect and Responsibility Regarding COVID-19 and COVID-19 Testing Consent forms.

Mark your calendars:

Beginning at 5 a.m. on Aug. 10, you will be asked to accept the Acknowledgment and Testing Consent forms as part of Gannon University’s Terms of Use. 

Completing the Testing Consent as part of Gannon’s Terms of Use is new this year for all students and employees. This has been added as we expand our surveillance testing to include unvaccinated individuals, as well as testing for unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals who may experience symptoms of COVID-19 should they choose to utilize Gannon’s testing services. Your experience if you are tested will be made more seamless by completing this consent upfront, as we will no longer require you to complete the consent at the time of testing. This one-time acceptance of the Testing Consent will cover any tests that may be needed throughout the entirety of the academic year.

The Acknowledgment form is similar to what was introduced last spring, with adjusted verbiage to reflect the current state of the pandemic and Gannon’s mitigation efforts in response to it.

A few key changes to note in this include:

• Because we’ve allowed our Gannon family to decide whether to become vaccinated or not, the University will follow two sets of COVID-19 mitigation protocols: one for fully vaccinated individuals and one for unvaccinated individuals.
• It is your responsibility to report if you are fully vaccinated to update.gannon.edu/vaccinecard. If you do not report your status as fully vaccinated to this portal, you will follow mitigation protocols for unvaccinated individuals, including but not limited to bi-weekly surveillance testing.
• Understand that by uploading your COVID-19 vaccination card, you are consenting to the sharing of your fully vaccinated status with a limited number of departments essential to our mitigation efforts.
• Gannon reserves the right to enforce compliance with this Acknowledgment and with required mitigation protocols, including surveillance testing, and to initiate a conduct referral if/when indicated.

We are proud of our students and want to make sure we sustain our commitment to keeping each other safe. This is a required acknowledgment and consent, and part of our mitigation plan and efforts. Those who do not accept this acknowledgment will be contacted by Student Accountability for evaluation and reconsideration of the student’s current enrollment. You will also not be able to access Gannon applications until you accept this acknowledgment. This includes applications such as email, Office, Blackboard, my.gannon.edu and more. 

This measure – in conjunction with the COVID-19 protocols and safety guidelines in place at the University – will ensure we are all doing our part to keep the members of our Gannon community healthy and continue to make our campus a safe learning and living environment for students.

Please follow the steps below to review and complete the COVID-19 Acknowledgment and Testing Consent on Aug. 10:

1. In advance of Aug. 10, review the STUDENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY REGARDING COVID-19 and COVID-19 TESTING CONSENT
2. Submit questions or concerns regarding the policy to compliance@gannon.edu before Aug. 10. 
3. Log out of all applications on your devices prior to 5 a.m. on Aug. 10 to avoid technical issues. A courtesy calendar reminder for this will be shared.
4. Upon logging in on Aug. 10, you will be prompted to accept the acknowledgment and testing consent. The initial pop-up will look similar to the following:
5. When you select “Accept,” you will receive a pop-up to expand and review the acknowledgment. 
6. Select “OK” to expand and read the acknowledgment, then select “Accept.” 
7. If you select “Decline” at any point, you will have restricted access to Gannon applications until you accept the policy. You will be prompted again until you select “Accept.” To discuss why you have selected “Decline,” please contact compliance@gannon.edu.

Helpful tips for a seamless experience:

• To avoid technical issues: 1) Make sure your system is updated to Office 365 and 2) Log out and close all applications on your devices prior to 5 a.m. on Aug. 10. 
• Please plan ahead. Restoring access to your applications after accepting the acknowledgment could take up to 30 minutes. 
• The acknowledgment and consent can be accepted on any device. 
• You will need to accept the acknowledgment and consent to restore access to Gannon applications before you can continue with your work. 

Contact Information:

For any questions or concerns about the policy, please contact compliance@gannon.edu. 

For technical issues, please contact helpdesk@gannon.edu.

For additional questions or comments, you may submit them on update.gannon.edu at https://www.gannon.edu/Questions-or-Comments/.