GV COVID-19 campus data update

The Grand Valley State University community has had a cumulative total of 7,224 cases since Aug. 1, 2020. The university’s update for this brief was from Friday, Feb. 18.

Through testing results this past week, GVSU’s Virus Action team have so far reported 101 current active cases including nine faculty members, 14 staff members, nine on-campus students, 36 “off-campus Ottawa” students, 24 “off-campus Kent” students and nine “off-campus other” students with active COVID-19 cases.

“Current active cases” is the count of positive cases reported to the Virus Action Team over the past 10 days.  This is an estimate of those currently in isolation, assuming a 10-day symptomatic period following the reporting of a positive test result. Actual periods of isolation are specific to the individual and determined by the county health department.

Vaccination: GVSU encourages all students, faculty and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible. All students, faculty and staff are required to be fully vaccinated, barring a medical or religious exemption or postponement. According to the COVID-19 data dashboard, an 80% vaccination rate in the GVSU community is required to reach herd immunity and minimal virus transmission.

Currently, approximately 87% of students report being fully vaccinated, while approximately 93% of faculty and staff reports being fully vaccinated.

There are currently 2,214 students and 139 faculty/staff with approved vaccination exemptions.

Testing and Incidence: GVSU’s own testing program has performed 126,288 tests overall since Aug. 1, 2020, for a cumulative positivity rate of 2.15% from the latest update as of last week. A total of 1,083 tests were performed over the last seven days.

“GV Surveillance” includes the GV/Spectrum administered programs of randomized testing, regular testing of high-risk groups and invited testing of individuals connected to potential clusters. A calendar is available. “GV Total” includes surveillance testing plus all symptomatic/exposure tests administered by Spectrum.

GV moves forward with Reach Higher 2025

Grand Valley State University President, Philomena Mantella, notified the campus community through email that the Board of Trustees has approved the Reach Higher 2025 strategic plan. 

The board meeting to approve the plan was held on Feb. 18 on the Allendale campus. 

This approval follows endorsements by the University Academic Senate, the Student Senate and the Administrative Professional Committee. 

Mantella expressed her gratitude for the approval in her campus-wide email. 

“I am appreciative for the hundreds of you who shared a comment, came to a meeting, offered direction and wrestled with just the right words that capture the heart and soul of GVSU and its mission, vision and values,” Mantella said. 

GV selects new Provost

Grand Valley State University President Philomena Mantella announced via email on Feb. 15 that GVSU had selected Dr. Fatma Mili as the next provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs.