COVID-19 Updates for 2021-22

GCU will continue to encourage students, faculty and staff to get a COVID-19 vaccination and will assist those who want to receive the vaccine during the fall semester. However, vaccines will not be required to attend GCU.

In certain programs such as nursing, teacher education, counseling, etc. in which clinicals or field experience are required for licensure, students are subject to the health and safety requirements of the healthcare organizations or school districts that serve as clinical or field experience sites. GCU has been notified by many healthcare organizations and school districts that they will require the COVID-19 vaccine for all employees as well as others that will be working in their facilities beginning with the fall 2021 semester. GCU continues to monitor these requirements and will communicate that information to students as it becomes available. Some of these organizations may allow exemptions to students who meet the criteria established by the healthcare organization or school district. More detailed information regarding health and safety requirements in those settings is being communicated directly to students in each of those programs.

Students can reach out to GCU’s Health and Wellness Clinic at 844-391-1949 or healthcenter@gcu.edu for assistance in receiving a vaccine once they have moved on campus or started their courses.

Students and staff can choose to wear a mask in the classroom or indoors. However, masks are currently not required on campus. The only exceptions are in clinical settings, including the Health and Wellness Clinic, where face coverings are required, and in nursing laboratory environments where face coverings and shields are used in order to replicate real-world health settings in which those are utilized. GCU is continuing to monitor the pandemic’s impact specific to our campus and may make changes as necessary in order to ensure our students’ academic success.

It will be up to the discretion of the faculty member whether to ask students to wear face coverings in such meetings. Alternatives such as Zoom meetings will also be available. Students are free to wear face coverings in any such settings, whether the faculty or staff member requests it or not.

Masks are also required in GCU’s ACE Centers, and the Math, ENG and ELL Learning Centers. Due to a high volume of students entering and exiting this space throughout the hours of operation (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and because of multiple faculty members working in proximity with students—both participants must abide by the mask policy. Students who do not wish to wear a mask can seek guidance by scheduling virtual appointments through the Career Connections.

There might be some students in programs with higher contact rates, like athletics, where random testing is instituted. The student body at large should not anticipate a random testing program. Students who are symptomatic or in quarantine will be asked to test. Students who voluntarily wish to be tested can do so at the Health and Wellness Clinic.

GCU highly encourages all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated in order to create the safest campus environment possible and ensure that campus operations can continue without restrictions. The recent rise in COVID cases nationally as a result of the Delta variant is primarily among those who are unvaccinated.

Yes, classes will return to the same format prior to COVID-19 with regular face-to-face instruction for all in-person classes. Students choosing to take online courses may pursue that option as course content and availability permits.

Programs leading to licensure or programs requiring any field experience are subject to the health and safety requirements of the external organizations that they are assigned to. Students in those programs should contact their assigned Field Experience Counselor for those detailed requirements.

More detailed information regarding health and safety requirements in those settings will be communicated directly to students in each of those programs.

Students needing quarantine or isolation are to contact the COVID hotline at 602-639-7300.

The COVID hotline will collect the student’s information and share it with the necessary GCU departments to support the student’s academic progress. GCU will contact the faculty and instructors on the student’s behalf.

Currently, events are scheduled to operate at regular capacity and will not be modified. Students can expect a full move-in and Welcome Week experience in addition to in-person activities on campus including Chapel, clubs and athletic events. Students who choose to wear a mask can do so at all events.

Yes, visitors are currently allowed on campus. GCU asks that visitors are not exhibiting any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 and have not had contact with a positive COVID patient in the last 10 days. Visitors, at their discretion, are free to wear face coverings in all settings if they choose.

Currently, all dining areas on campus are open without restrictions.

If you are feeling ill, please stay in your residence hall room. If you must leave your room, use a face covering and maintain distance greater than six feet from others until you see a medical provider.

Call the COVID-19 Hotline at 602-639-7300 option #3. The GCU Health and Wellness Clinic asks that you call ahead so their team can properly screen each individual prior to entering the clinic. Many of the visits can be done by Telehealth. If it is determined, based on the telehealth visit, that an in-person visit is necessary, staff will arrange for a safe in-person visit with one of their qualified medical professionals.

If a student is seen in the Health Clinic, a mask will be required to enter. Upon entering the Health Clinic there will be a kiosk with the necessary PPE for those that need it. You can contact the GCU Health and Wellness Clinic at 844-391-1949 or healthcenter@gcu.edu. If you are faculty or staff and experiencing these same symptoms, seek medical attention by calling a medical professional and do not come to work. Further instructions are available on LopeNet for faculty and staff. If you are experiencing severe symptoms, call 9-1-1 or seek immediate care at the nearest emergency room.

If a student tests positive, contact tracing will occur and any students who have come in close contact with the infected individual will also be tested. Affected individuals will be placed in isolation and cared for, while reasonable accommodations will be made to continue their classroom instruction online. Students who live in close proximity to GCU and Arizona may have the option to return home for quarantine or isolation after completing a public health evaluation.

Students have the option to isolate on or off campus. A section of rooms have been set aside to house students who test positive and need to be placed in isolation. Students who have come in close contact with an individual who tests positive and need to be placed into quarantine will be handled on a case-by-case basis depending on their living situation and whether they are symptomatic. Students who show no symptoms, test negative and live in a residence hall in which they have their own room may be able to quarantine in their room.

Additional isolation/quarantine spaces will be made available if needed. 

Students who can show that they are fully vaccinated may not have to be placed in quarantine if they come in close contact with an individual who tests positive and are asymptomatic.

Students who can show documentation of a positive COVID-19 test in the past 90 days and are asymptomatic will not need to quarantine.

Yes, any student who wishes to be tested can do so by contacting the Health and Wellness Clinic at 844-391-1949 or healthcenter@gcu.edu.

There are 37 active COVID-19 cases connected to the GCU campus community. Of those, 31 are students and 6 are employees.

Since Aug. 15, 2021: There have been 1,005 positive COVID-19 cases connected to the GCU campus community. Of those, 925 are students and 80 are employees.