University Council Meeting Recap - November 7th, 2021

Central Student Government's University Council met on Sunday, November 7th. A summary of the recap has been provided below. A full recap can also be found here.

• Pressing Updates (CSG - Carla Voigt)

  • Student selection for provost selection committee, need a very quick turnaround; sent in GroupMe, send to students to complete by Tuesday night (11/9)

Dr. Ernst Visit

• Problems with COVID testing through UHS:

  • 2 primary sources for getting tested as a student:

    • CTSP (asymptomatic), 24-36 hour turnaround

    • UHS PCR-based testing with Michigan Medicine; capacity backup to CTSP, traditional nasal swab, 2 hour turnaround, can only run 16 tests at a time before sending tests to hospital to speed up process which makes turnaround time 18-24 hours

      • Max capacity of 225 tests per day

      • Saw a decline in test demand similar with decline in positivity rate

      • Access to testing is strictly still by-appointment

      • Started October with 20% booked, has climbed to 80%

• Why would not everyone just get tested at CTSP?

  • Dangers of placing everyone in a space where people are symptomatic

• Glitch in system with being charged for UHS test, was assessed and removed

• Has the demand for COVID attention at UHS taken away from the quality of other care offered?

  • Multiple preventative practices were pushed out until October due to high demands from COVID

  • New approach of testing for COVID and Flu which is taking a drain on resources

  • Preventative care, sports med, mental health are the current shortcomings of UHS

• Change in Masking Mandate Policies

  • Started with 75% universal vaccination rate

  • Through fall lived experience, 97% feels like herd immunity

    • When the combination of community cases fall below a threshold, the policy will be reconsidered, not expected to happen anytime soon

• Does UHS have the capacity to perform rapid antigen tests?

  • No, downside is its sensitivity

• What is the possibility for vaccine clinics to offer flu shots?

  • The capacity is available in the community, but lack of trained individuals are lacking in order to distribute

  • Campus is not currently seeing a flu season but a flu outbreak due to the recent travel from fall break, which is also translating to a higher COVID case rate

• Who is making the health decisions at U-M?

  • Michigan medicine is not the health decision-making body at U-M

  • Executive Officers of the University create the policy

  • UHS shares campus covid response