Required Return-to-Campus Testing
All on-campus students must be tested for COVID-19 immediately upon arriving for the spring semester.
- Residence hall students received return-to-campus testing information with their move-in instructions from Housing and Residence Life. More information is available on their Spring 2021 Move-In and Semester FAQs website.
- Non-residence hall students who will be on campus for classes, labs, clinicals, etc., also must be tested. These students should come to the testing center in the Memorial Student Center upon arriving on campus for the first time. Testing is available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Separate arrangements have been made for arrival testing of students at the South Charleston and Mid-Ohio Valley Center locations. Please check with your campus director upon arriving.
Random Surveillance Testing
During the spring 2021 semester, the university will be conducting weekly, mandatory surveillance testing of 10% of the on-campus student population. Random surveillance testing helps detect potentially infected individuals—including those who are not experiencing symptoms—and keeps them from infecting others.
The surveillance testing will be conducted Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center. Students who are randomly selected for testing will be notified via e-mail and instructed to stop by the Memorial Student Center on a specific day to be tested.
Separate arrangements will be made for surveillance testing of students at the South Charleston and Mid-Ohio Valley Center locations.
Testing Details
- For the spring 2021 semester, Marshall University has switched its testing method on all campuses from nasal swabs to less invasive, self-administered saliva-based tests.
- Before your saliva test, refrain from eating, drinking, smoking/vaping, using tobacco products, chewing gum or using mouthwash for at least 30 minutes. You are encouraged to drink plenty of water prior to that 30-minute window to help ensure you have an adequate amount of saliva for the test. Detailed instructions for the saliva testing procedure are available on the university’s coronavirus website.
- If you have had a positive COVID-19 test within the past 90 days, you should not be tested. Notify the university of any recent positive test by e-mailing COVID19@marshall.edu. If the appropriate documentation is not provided, testing will be required.
- The tests have an expected turnaround for results in 24-48 hours.
- All testing is FREE of charge.
- Please bring your Marshall ID with you to the testing location.
- The university’s trained contact tracers will immediately get in touch with anyone who tests positive. Tracers help arrange for the individual to isolate themselves, and will identify people with whom the patient has been in close contact so they, in turn, can be contacted. Our formal case management plans and operating procedures were developed in consultation with the Cabell-Huntington Health Department.
- You may be selected for testing more than once this semester. If so, please come to the testing location to be tested each time you are notified.
- Walk-up testing for those not randomly selected also is available.
- Testing data, including the number of tests done and the results, is available on the university’s coronavirus website.
Student Vaccinations
The university has not yet received details about if/when vaccinations for students may be made available. When information is received, it will be shared with the Marshall community via e-mail. [Click here for updates]
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance as we all work together to keep Marshall University safe.
If you have questions about the surveillance testing process or the university’s response to the pandemic, please contact COVID19@marshall.edu.