Nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, responses from institutions of higher education remain ever-changing. Just ahead of the fall 2022 semester and amid declining local cases, William Jewell College released its 2022-23 Health and Safety Guidelines in July and announced a major revision on Sept. 01.

Compared to Jewell’s previous COVID-19 responses, Vice President for Finance and Operations Daniel Holt explained that this year’s shortened guidelines feature only the most efficient and accurate measures to support community health.

“You will find a much shorter list of guidelines than what was released with Operation Safe [Campus] and Operation Resurgent Campus,” Holt said. “This is intentional, as our community has learned from the past two years the best practices that keep the Jewell community safe and the most frequently asked questions.”

Despite the decline in local cases, some students remain at risk for transmission due to exposure during travel or athletic events. This semester, various small outbreaks affected groups of students, but were ultimately contained as everyone followed appropriate guidelines. Overall, a key point in Jewell’s guidelines encourages students to use campus resources such as the Student Health Center when situations regarding potential exposure and isolation arise.

According to nurse practitioner Courtney Cooper, MSN, FNP-C, CEN, and registered nurse Christina Graskemper, BSN, CPN, the Student Health Center is a centralized resource for students who may need additional support during the pandemic and otherwise. Employed through The Liberty Clinic, Cooper and Graskemper work the majority of their hours at the Student Health Center and provide in-person and telehealth services to students on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

“We provide education to all students regarding when to test and quarantine guidelines,” they said. “We coordinate with student life and dining services to make sure the students that test positive have what they need during the quarantine period. We [also] work with the professors and athletic department to help the students maintain a good academic standing.”

Cooper and Graskemper maintain that services provided at the Student Health Center align with up-to-date policies and recommendations set by Jewell and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to guidance on testing, they currently offer free, self-administered COVID-19 tests to students who are experiencing symptoms.

“According to the CDC, if a student is having symptoms, [they] should test immediately,” Cooper and Graskemper explain. “[However,] a negative test does not rule out a COVID-19 infection. There is a chance that you can test too soon, which means you tested before the virus was detectable. Therefore, if we have a student in the Health Center who has been sick for less than 24 hours that tests negative, we recommend re-testing once they have been experiencing symptoms for more than 24 hours. …If you have been exposed to COVID-19, but are asymptomatic, you should wait five full days before testing.”

Regardless of vaccination status, Jewell’s guidelines state that everyone should follow the same isolation procedure if sick; however, additional masking requirements are reliant on whether an individual experiences symptoms or not. 

The guidelines are based on a timeline established by the CDC with day zero defined as day that symptoms arose or the day that an individual took the test, whichever occurred first. Importantly, the CDC notes, the day that a positive test result is received may not necessarily be the same day that the test was performed.

As soon as an individual receives a positive test result, Cooper and Graskemper add, they must immediately begin following appropriate guidelines and notify anyone that they were in contact with over the previous two days.

“Individuals need to quarantine alone for days 1-5,” Cooper and Graskemper state. “If symptoms are improving after day five, [they] may be out in public only if wearing a well-fitted mask. [They] need to wear the mask in public for days 6-10. On day 11, you are allowed to be mask-free. If your symptoms are not improving after day five, you are to continue to quarantine at home for the full 10 days.”

Similar to those with symptomatic infections, Jewell’s guidelines instruct individuals experiencing no symptoms to isolate themselves for days 1-5. However, in accordance with updated CDC recommendations, they are no longer required to wear a mask during days 6-10 – a change reflected in the updated version of Jewell’s guidelines that were released on Sept. 01.

In either circumstance, if symptoms develop or worsen at any point, the CDC recommends restarting isolation at day zero. Students who need to isolate but live with a roommate should notify Student Life for temporary housing — a positive COVID-19 test is no longer required for this process.

The Student Health Center also recommends that students check in with their health care provider if they need relief from COVID-19 symptoms during the isolation period. 

Listed in the 2022-23 guidelines and reiterated by Holt, Jewell’s response to COVID-19 is largely dependent on local transmission and infection rates: “In the event of a surge of infection on campus and strain on local healthcare capacities, strategies from previous guidelines may be implemented,” the guidelines document states.

As of late-October, the Clay County Public Health Center reports transmission of COVID-19 in the county remains low with a seven-date case rate of about 63 per 100,000 people. Similarly, the Missouri Department of Health notes low community levels in all of the state’s seven regions. Both health departments state they use the CDC’s guidelines for categorizing and responding to low, medium and high community levels.

Summarizing the week of Oct. 21, the CDC reports 80.9% of U.S. counties and territories are experiencing low community levels. Although many Omicron variants are circling the U.S., the CDC remarks that they still make up a small minority of cases and are being monitored closely.

In the event that Clay County advances to a medium community level or higher, Jewell’s guidelines recommend that individuals at higher risk of COVID-19 symptoms wear a mask as needed. However, with community transmission expected to continue declining, Jewell anticipates a partial return to normalcy this year, writing in the guidelines document that the 2022-23 experience “will resemble pre-pandemic semesters with an increased mindfulness of personal wellbeing.”

According to the Kansas City Star, the “security measures are part of the district’s plan to improve public safety in an area that’s seen fatal shootings and other acts of violence. The Kansas City Council in December allowed privatization of some sidewalks in the entertainment district to allow these measures to be put in place.”

“Bloody August” was the term used to reference these spikes in shootings and acts of violence, with 17 people being shot in just two days. These constant acts of aggression caused safety to be a huge concern in places like Westport, and has been creating a fear of going downtown, especially for William Jewell College students.

“I go downtown to help in the elementary school one to two times a week… from stories I’ve heard or [have] read, it makes me nervous and uncomfortable,” said Jewel Arns, first-year elementary education major.

With the community suffering and fear of other acts happening, the city has decided that the plan of action to take is to provide better and more extensive security measures. Westport has set up a “pedestrian only” zone for the weekends, with several checkpoints.

Photo courtesy of Westport Regional Business League

There are several reminders and disclaimers around the area that disruption or acts of violence will not be tolerated. There is an age limit, which restricts anyone younger than 21 from coming to the area. This measure aids the curfew – another measure put into place to attempt to stifle the recurring acts of violent acts.

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Star

Westport’s own website even has a separate tab for information on their safety and rules, including a list of all weapons prohibited from entry.

“[The rules put into place] are being done to promote safety in Westport in response to the world we live in today. Westport is proud to take a proactive measure to address safety so all can continue to enjoy the vast array of late night options in Westport – just like millions of others have done for more than 150 years,” Westport advertises.

“The feedback we have received has been positive and patrons were happy to have security screenings taking place as an added nighttime safety measure,” a spokeswoman for the Westport Regional Business League told The Kansas City Star.

With 170 plus homicides in the KCMO area in 2018 and counting, it is unclear whether the new security measures will make a difference. Yet, they are serving, so far, to comfort the community and provide the most amount of safety possible for citizens.  

Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Star.

This rule is an extension of the kickoff rule changes made in 2012, moving the actual kickoff from the kicking team’s 30 yard-line to their 35 yard-line and allowing the offense of the receiving team to begin their drive on their 25 yard-line after a touchback as opposed to the 20 yard-line.

This new rule, along with the rule changes in 2012, are for the purpose of increasing touchbacks on kickoffs to reduce the number of returns in an effort to increase safety. The sport of football has introduced a multitude of rule changes within the past few years in an effort to increase safety-special teams plays, like kickoffs and punts, have been a huge target of these rule changes. It’s not difficult to see why these plays are targeted. These are often the plays that involve the most high-speed collisions as players have a majority of the field to build up speed for tackles or blocks as opposed to a small 10-15-yard window.  

While rule changes made in order to increase player safety often face criticism, like the recent NFL rule addition that prohibits offensive players and ball carriers from lowering their head preemptively to an oncoming tackler. However, this new kickoff rule seems to have struck some empathetic cord with most. The national championship runner-up University of Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart lamented that while it could diminish the value of a good kicker, it doesn’t change his preparation and ultimately his team has aimed for touchbacks to be the result of their kicks anyways, as this is the safest option for all players involved. Kansas State University Head Coach and William Jewell College alumni Bill Snyder said that he was all in favor of any rule that increased player safety and prevented injuries.

Perhaps it was the rule changes of 2012 that were the precursor to this generally sweeping change against kickoffs, or perhaps the culture of football is simply becoming more aware of the issue of player safety and long-term health. In this instance, it seems as though many are willing to sacrifice a relatively large change in the sport to facilitate an improvement in safety. Whether this attitude will continue or if we will see the same backlash over future safety regulations is yet to be seen.

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Jones first provided an overview of Campus Safety’s structure and system. The College has a partnership with Titan Protection, the company with training and oversight expertise that trains and provides our officers. They are paid through this outside company rather than through Jewell. This does not mean that Jewell administration has no authority over them.

“Direct oversight and accountability is provided throughout [by] the Site Supervisor and myself,” Jones said.

The primary roles of the officers, at least one of whom is always on duty with more available at peak times and during campus events, are responding to incidents and assisting students, faculty and staff as needed. All officers are trained in first aid and de-escalation of emergent situations.

Jewell students received an email at the start of the 2017-2018 school year notifying them that locked hours in certain buildings would be restricted and that there would be more cameras installed in order to increase campus safety. The Pryor Learning Commons (PLC) is to be locked from the Quad 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 p.m. to 12 p.m. on weekends. The other PLC doors are to be locked 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the week and for the entirety of the weekend. As Jones explained, this change will not impact student access but when they have to use their I.D. cards to enter.

Campus Safety is still in the process of new camera installment. This will largely be in parking areas. The Monitor asked about any singular incident or set of incidents that incited this addition and the source of funding for it.

“These cameras will be used primarily to investigate any incidents on campus. These changes are part of our general ongoing efforts for safety on campus,” Jones said.

Failure to have a valid parking permit, parking in an unauthorized area or parking against traffic flow all mean a fine of $50. Parking in a disabled spot without the proper permit or driving the wrong way mean fines of $100. The only change in monetary punishment regarding driving is the new crackdown on speeding. Being caught driving above the campus speed limit, which is 15 miles per hour, will exact a fine of $100.

As of now, Campus Safety has not invested in speed guns and will rely on officer discernment to ticket “drivers that are clearly driving recklessly or at an unsafe speed.”

Some students have expressed discontent over this additional possibility of monetary stress for a rule that is easy to break unintentionally.

“The rule changes made by Campus Safety are overbearing and impractical…Fifteen miles per hour is the speed I go over the speed bumps on campus. If they’re concerned about students walking up the fraternity circle they should build a sidewalk as many students have asked for,” said Connor Foote, junior political science major.

Jones explained that speeding has always been officially against campus law.

“The fine reinforces that safety for pedestrians and drivers is taken seriously on campus. The intent is to encourage drivers to slow down and ensure a safe campus for pedestrians and drivers,” Jones said.

The policy shifts and additions are part of an overall attempt to keep the College consistently improving.

“We see these changes as incremental improvements to various areas of campus as part of our overall efforts to continually improve safety,” Jones said.

Photos by Christina Kirk.