January Wildcat Wellness

The goals of Wildcat Wellness are to:

• Stabilize campus health before the start of in-person activity, particularly after the holidays and travel;
• Create a window for students to test and for the University to identify and isolate anyone who is positive;
• Take proactive steps that will allow the campus community to resume in-person activities as soon as possible and create the best possible conditions for a healthy, in-person remainder of the term.

Students with symptoms of COVID-19 should delay their return to campus. When students return, they must follow the testing protocol outlined below.

At-home arrival tests: All students, regardless of vaccination status or the presence of symptoms, should take and submit the results of at-home COVID-19 tests taken 36 hours before returning to campus and again upon arrival. Tests will be available in Norris University Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 2, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 3 through Jan. 7. Students living in residence halls will have tests available in their rooms when they return. To submit test results, click on “Report COVID-19 Test Results” at the link provided and follow the prompts.

In-person tests: All graduate and undergraduate students who are registered for in-person classes are required to take one in-person, on-campus COVID-19 test each week of Wildcat Wellness, which runs from Jan. 1 through 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18. All students taking in-person classes during Winter Quarter must arrive early enough to complete their first-week testing requirement—no later than Friday, Jan. 7. A second in-person, on-campus test is required during the second week of Wildcat Wellness. Students who do not complete these testing requirements will be referred to the Office of Community Standards for non-compliance. Based on feedback from students and parents, we expect fewer students to need testing on Jan. 2, so the Jacobs Center will no longer be open that day. The Evanston and Chicago testing centers will offer extended hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, from Jan. 3 through Jan. 14. Students also are encouraged to regularly complete at-home tests during the Wildcat Wellness period as an additional measure of safety.

During Wildcat Wellness, students must avoid in-person activities and participation in large groups but may leave their residences for the following essential activities:

• Health and safety tasks, including activities essential to the health and safety of their family or household members (including, but not limited to, pets).
• Meals can be retrieved and consumed in students’ residences during the Wellness period. Campus dining centers will serving grab-and-go hot meals, but students must return to their rooms to eat and should not eat with others outside of their roommates. Off-campus students must eat in their place of residence –in-person dining in residence hall common areas or restaurants is not permitted. 
• Obtaining services and supplies for themselves and their household members, such as groceries and food, household products, supplies they need to work from home, textbooks, and banking.
• Academic preparations, including required testing, performance practice connected to an academic program, picking up textbooks, and accessing essential materials at the libraries.
• Work that cannot be performed remotely, including on-campus and off-campus jobs. Students who can work remotely are encouraged to make arrangements to do so during the Wellness period. Those who have jobs that cannot transition to remote are permitted to work.
• Engaging in outdoor activity such as walking, hiking, running, and biking.
• Religious observance such as attending services or other religious events or gatherings.

The only approved exceptions to Wildcat Wellness are for students in programs with distinct requirements or calendars, eligible student athletes and music performance students, or for the specific activities outlined below, including laboratory research.

• Pritzker School of Law students should look for communication from their school for details on the start of their semester.
• Feinberg School of Medicine students will follow school-based protocols for the start of the term.
• Research laboratories will remain open while continuing to observe health and safety protocols.
• Students participating in for-credit, off-campus experiential learning programs, e.g., practica, internships or field placements may do so during the Wellness period.
• Some athletes and music performance students will observe a modified form of Wildcat Wellness to allow for conditioning and in some cases practice or competition (in the case of athletes) with safety precautions in place. Teams will be provided a schedule of allowed activities that is modified based on the team’s competition schedule and degree of required contact. Music performance students may rehearse individually on campus if necessary.

It is critical that we each take responsibility for maintaining the health of our community. All members of the Northwestern community must to continue to be diligent about protecting their health and the health of those around them by wearing masks, limiting gatherings, testing and monitoring for health symptoms and reporting symptoms or positivity to the University.