Masks are not currently required at ChattState. Some classrooms and offices encourage mask wearing. If you do not have a mask, you can find them provided for you throughout the campus.
No. Employees can only request others to wear masks; they cannot require them.
Please know that signage encouraging others to wear a mask is available for Faculty and Staff to print off in the Marketing Tool Kit.
Currently, there is no local, state or federal law requiring masks. However, Chattanooga State supports wearing masks indoors and around other people and requests that members of the campus community wear a mask for the first two weeks of the spring 2022 semester.
- Please read the Tennessee Omnibus Bill to learn more on why Chattanooga State cannot enact a mask mandate.
Do not report to campus if you have these symptoms: fever/chills, cough, sore throat, runny/stuffy nose, body/muscle aches, headache, fatigue. Inform your instructor or supervisor that you will not be reporting to campus.
You should complete the Chattanooga State COVID positive self-reporting form on TigerWeb.
You should notify anyone who may have been a close contact since the time you initially began showing symptoms or tested positive.
According to the TN Dept of Health (www.tn.gov/health) and the CDC (www.cdc.gov) you should:
- Isolate at home immediately.
- Stay isolated for at least 5 days, and until you no longer have symptoms and have been fever free for 24 hours.
- Following the initial isolation, you should then properly wear a well-fitting face mask when you are around other people for an additional 5 days.
According to the TN Dept of Health (www.tn.gov/health) and the CDC (www.cdc.gov):
If you become exposed to COVID-19, and you are up to date on your vaccinations:
- You should properly wear a well-fitting face mask when you are around other people for 10 days following the initial exposure.
- You should monitor symptoms for at least 5 days following exposure.
- You should consider getting a COVID-19 test 5 days following exposure, even if you are asymptomatic.
If you become exposed to COVID-19, and you are not up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations, or have never been vaccinated against COVID-19:
- You should immediately quarantine at home for no fewer than 5 days followed immediately by properly wearing a well-fitting face mask when you are around other people for another 5 days following the initial exposure.
a. If a 5 day quarantine is not feasible, you should properly wear a well-fitting face mask when you are around other people for 10 days following the initial exposure. - You should monitor symptoms for at least 5 days following exposure.
- You should consider getting a COVID-19 test 5 days following exposure even if you are asymptomatic.
Yes. Chattanooga State asks that COVID positive students, staff and faculty complete the COVID-19 self reporting form on TigerWeb. This information will help Chattanooga State track the number of COVID positive cases on campus.
Not at this time. We ask that self-reporting, COVID positive individuals notify anyone whom they have been in close contact with since they first began noticing symptoms or they received their positive test results.
Not at this time. Any contact tracing will be done by the local health department.
In order to provide timely notifications, we ask that self-reporting, COVID positive individuals notify anyone whom they have been in close contact with since they first began noticing symptoms or they received their positive test results.
There are many factors that play a part in Chattanooga State’s response to COVID-19. The College looks at information from the Tennessee Department of Health, the Hamilton County Health Department, the CDC, TBR, the State of Tennessee and other government agencies to steer our COVID response plan. We have continued to adapt to the very fluid COVID crisis since its inception in 2020, and we will continue to work with our partners on the local, state and federal levels to stay up to speed on this very dangerous virus.
The state of Tennessee’s Omnibus Bill took effect November 12, 2021. This legislation limits steps that Chattanooga State can take towards COVID-19 prevention measures on campus such as:
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Government entities, including public schools, could only require masks when a county has registered at least 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the previous two weeks; the metric must be met every two weeks to continue renewing a mask mandate; religious and medical exemptions must be offered. Additionally, the Governor of Tennessee must declare a state of emergency.
Yes. While both the TN Department of Health (www.tn.gov/health) and the CDC (www.cdc.gov) state that the risk of COVID surface contamination is low, the Chattanooga State custodial department will continue to clean and disinfect spaces across campus on a regular basis.
Additionally, items such as disinfectant spray, wipes, air purifiers and hand sanitizer will continue to be made available to staff and faculty.
Yes. You can inform students of a COVID positive diagnosis in a class as long as you do not disclose the identity of the student who tested positive.
No.
Please read the Tennessee Omnibus Bill to learn more on why Chattanooga State cannot require proof of vaccination.
Chattanooga State is taking several measures to help keep our campus community safe from COVID-19. Some of these measures are:
- Requesting everyone to wear masks while indoors
- Cleaning and disinfecting spaces across campus
- Providing air filtration systems for classrooms and offices
- Providing face masks to anyone who needs them
- Supplying classrooms and offices with PPE such as disinfectant, hand sanitizer, nitrile gloves and face shields
- Upgrading our mechanical air filters to a higher level of filtration going from MERV11 to MERV13
- Encouraging people to stay home if they do not feel well