Barnard has established a robust and independent COVID-19 testing program to further monitor and manage the health of our campus and for those utilizing Columbia’s campus. The main provider of Barnard’s tests is the Safe for School program operated by Clinical Research Sequencing Platform (CRSP) and the Broad Institute. The College has implemented an app called CoVerified (see the FAQ) to provide test result notifications.

1. Regular Testing: All members of the community, including faculty, students and staff, participating in the testing program are required to participate in Barnard’s regular testing program, in which asymptomatic individuals (i.e. people who aren’t feeling sick) are tested on a regular basis as a way for the College to monitor the health and well being of the campus.
2. Accessing Columbia's Campus: All those accessing Columbia’s campus (faculty, students and staff) will need to complete the Columbia screening app ReopenCU, which is different from Barnard’s app.
3. Columbia University members accessing Barnard’s campus: Barnard recognizes the ReopenCU app as the screening tool for Columbia University, permitting Columbia University constituents with a green pass to access the Barnard campus and prohibiting those with a red pass from accessing the Barnard campus.

Testing Program Requirements for Faculty and Staff

Detailed testing information can be found in On-Campus Test Information and Scheduling for Faculty and Staff document.

Faculty and staff are required to test once a month (every 4 weeks).

• Refer to the Barnard Surveillance Testing Chart to determine assigned testing dates and times. You will receive an automated notice via email the week before your expected testing week as a reminder.

• Faculty/staff who miss their assigned testing window will be responsible to get tested elsewhere to maintain their testing requirement.

• The asymptomatic testing program will no longer support optional testing for any members of the Barnard community.

Testing Program Requirements for Students

Detailed information about testing for students can be found on the On Campus Testing Information Sheet.

During the Summer semester, residential students, who are planning to access the campus, are expected to test once every 2 weeks (within 14 days). Non-residential students are expected to test on a monthly basis (every 4 weeks).

• Refer to the Barnard Surveillance Testing Chart to determine assigned testing dates and times
• You will receive an automated notice via email the week before your expected testing week as a reminder.

• Students who miss their assigned testing window will be responsible to get tested elsewhere to maintain their testing requirement.

• The asymptomatic testing program will no longer support optional testing for any members of the Barnard community.

Contact covidtesting@barnard.edu if you have any questions.

Members of the Barnard community must complete the following steps to access the CoVerified App, Barnard's daily screening tool:

Faculty & Staff

• Sign the 2021-2022 Barnard Community Pledge.
• Faculty: Faculty members complete Columbia's RASCAL training and provide their completion certificate to Human Resources. Please send a copy of your completed RASCAL certificate to the Office of Human Resources (hr@barnard.edu).
• Staff: Review the safety training: COVID-19 Training: Working Safely at Barnard College and Columbia University

Students

• Sign the 2021-2022 Barnard Community Pledge.
• Complete any required health and safety training

• Barnard provides all on-campus, required surveillance testing at no cost to faculty, staff or students.
• Barnard’s testing protocols are built around polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which have been referred to as the “gold standard” of testing. On-campus tests use an anterior nasal collection, which uses a short, Q-tip-like swab to collect a sample just above the nostrils. Tests will be processed by the Clinical Research Sequencing Platform in partnership with the Broad Institute. The estimated turnaround time is approximately 48 hours from collection. More information can be found on this fact sheet.
• Those participating in the testing program must get tested on a regular schedule basis as a means of monitoring the health of the immediate community. Adjustments to the frequency of our testing will be based on considerations such as the infection rate both at Barnard and in New York City.
• Individuals will be able to view their personal test results on CoVerified as soon as they are posted by the lab.
• Accessing Columbia’s campus: Those students planning to access Columbia’s facilities at any point:
  • Are required to participate in Barnard’s testing program. 
  • Tests are for asymptomatic students only; students with symptoms of COVID-19 or who otherwise feel sick should consult Barnard’s Primary Care Health Services (PCHS) for evaluation and possible testing.
• Regular testing is required; students cannot have a single standalone test or elect to test only during select weeks.
• The results of our community testing as aggregate information are available on the College’s COVID-19 Dashboard, including the number of tests weekly and the percentage of positive test results
• Additionally, all faculty, staff and students should update the College if they have experienced symptoms of COVID-19, possibly been exposed to COVID-19, or test positive for COVID-19 via a non-Barnard test at any point by uploading their test to CoVerified.