5715 Student Communicable Disease

Initial Date of Approval: 4/22/09

Revision Date(s):  3/8/11

Administrative Responsibility: Vice President of Student Services

PURPOSE

To ensure a healthy and safe campus for the Skagit Valley College community. The college understands that no policy can completely protect the campus community from all exposures to harmful disease, but these policies are in place to minimize the risk to students so their educational progress will not be interrupted by avoidable illness.

REFERENCES

• American Council Health Association (ACHA) Guidelines
  • ACHA Guidelines – Recommendations for Institutional Prematriculation Immunizations
  • ACHA Guidelines – Tuberculosis Screening and Targeted Testing of College and University Students

POLICY

COMMUNICABLE DISEASE OUTBREAK: If a student contracts measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, avian flu, chickenpox, SARS, or other highly infectious diseases he/she will be excluded from the campus community and/or quarantined until the communicable period is past. In the event of a broader outbreak, the college will work with the local health departments and other governmental agencies to determine an appropriate response.

MEASLES/MUMPS/RUBELLA REQUIREMENT: All Campus View Village residents must show records of MMR immunizations or they will be excluded from campus housing in the event of a suspected case of measles, mumps, or rubella in the SVC community. The non-immunized individual(s) will remain excluded for at least two weeks after the onset of the last case or until the appropriate health department approves his/her return to campus. If a student chooses to be immunized at the time of an outbreak, he/she will still be excluded from campus housing for a two week period following the immunization to be sure that the student did not contract the disease before the immunization was given.

EXEMPTIONS: Campus View Village resident students may be exempt from immunizations for the following reasons and under the following conditions:

• Medical exemption-must have physician note with a medical reason for exemption.
• Religious exemption- must sign an exemption form at the housing office or in the presence of a notary public and return the form to the housing office.
• Personal exemption – must sign an exemption form at the housing office or in the presence of a notary public and return the form to the housing office.

Students who are exempted from the immunization records policy will be excluded from campus housing during the time of any measles, mumps, or rubella outbreak.

PROCEDURES

Procedures described in Communicable Disease Policy.