Surveillance Testing

Note: If on your scheduled day of testing, the college is functioning fully remote due to weather conditions, you still must test within that week. You may choose to go any day testing is open. However, if you are not scheduled to be on campus the rest of that week, you may resume testing the next week you are scheduled to be on campus.

Pursuant to SUNY’s Mandatory COVID-19 Testing Program, Nassau Community College (NCC) will continue its Surveillance Testing for the Spring 2021 semester. As a reminder, the testing requirement is to help ensure health and safety and the College will continue to partner with Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH) to identify, trace, and contain the virus as quickly as possible. There is no cost to students or employees for the pooled testing.

COVID-19 Surveillance Account 

Prior to testing, individuals will be required to create a COVID-19 Surveillance Account and complete their profile. For help with creating your account, download these step-by-step instructions. This is a one-time process. Students or employees who have created a profile in the Fall do not need to create a new account. 

NCC COVID-19 Surveillance Testing – General Information

Individuals will provide saliva samples, which will then be pooled into a group of 10-12. The testing is done using saliva rather than by swabs that are inserted in a person’s nose. Individuals will administer the tests themselves, swabbing their mouths for 10 or 15 seconds each, and provide the saliva samples to College personnel or volunteers. Pooled samples will then be combined into one large sample and mailed to SUNY Upstate Medical University for testing. Results will be provided by SUNY Upstate Medical University to the NCC Campus Physician several days after receipt of the pool samples. You will only be notified if you are a part of a pool which tested positive.

• A negative pool means that all people in the group are presumed at the time to be coronavirus-free.
• If a positive pool results, all persons in the affected pool will be notified via email to isolate until the Reflex Test on each individual sample is completed by SUNY Upstate Medical University.  Individuals do not need to return to the campus or take any other action in order to receive results of the follow-up individual Reflex Tests.  Tests will be automatically conducted by SUNY Upstate Medical University based on the original samples submitted.  Once positive case(s) have been identified, individuals in the pool will be notified to either end their isolation (if their Reflex Test was negative) or continue their isolation (if their Reflex Test was positive). 

Requirements

1. The testing program is MANDATORY for:
   • Students enrolled in face-to-face courses
   • Students working on campus
   • Student Athletes (will receive specific instructions from the Director of Athletics regarding the below requirements)
   • Students using on-campus resources, on a weekly basis, for the facilitation of their academic course (computer, internet, or study space access)
   • All employees scheduled to regularly work on campus, regardless of union affiliation.  This includes, but is not limited to: CSEA employees, teaching and non-teaching faculty who are members of the AFA and NCCFT bargaining units, employees who are members of NCCAA bargaining unit, as well as employees who do not belong to a bargaining unit.
   • Employees who are regularly scheduled to be on campus on a weekly or bi-weekly basis (e.g., those scheduled to be on-campus once a week, or on alternate weeks, or on a staggered schedule).
   • COVID-19 vaccine recipients 

2. The following individuals are exempt from the COVID-19 testing:

   • Students or employees providing documentation to the campus of a negative COVID-19 diagnostic result within the 7-day period of the individual’s required testing date.

   • Students or employees providing documentation to the campus of a previous positive COVID-19 diagnostic result from the prior 3-month (90-day) period

3. Students & employees are required to be tested once a week. No appointment is needed. For employees working on bi-weekly or staggered schedules, testing is required to be done once during each week when the employee is scheduled to work on campus.

4. Prior to testing, individuals will need to create a COVID-19 Surveillance Account and complete their profile. This is a one-time process. Students or employees who have created a profile in the Fall do not need to create a new account. Instructions for creating an account can be found here.

5. Individuals will need to bring their official NCC ID card and their personal electronic device to the collection station. A personal ID, such as a driver’s license or non-driver ID, will NOT be accepted.

   • If you arrive on campus without an ID, you can obtain one in the Student Services Center, open Monday – Thursday, 10:00am to 3:00pm.

6. You must not eat or drink anything, including chewing gum, mints, or lozenges, within 30 minutes of reporting for testing, and must not brush your teeth or use mouthwash within three (3) hours before testing.

7. In addition, you must abstain from smoking, vaping, or using smokeless tobacco products for 30 minutes prior to the test.

Instructions Upon Arrival to the Testing Site

• When individuals first arrive, they will be required to SCAN their ID at the scanning station manned by a member of the Public Safety Office.
• After scanning their ID, walk towards Station 1 using the designated floor markers to maintain social distance of six (6) feet from the person in front of you at all times.
• Please have your ID and account open on your phone before approaching the greeter at Station 1.
• Individuals should then open their account on their phone to scan the barcode on the collection tube. The greeter will then verify with the individual that the barcode scanned matches the number on the collection tube.
• Individuals will then move to Station 2 for swabbing. Following the instructions of the attendant, the individual will collect saliva from his/her own mouth for 10-15 seconds. Please see instructional videos below.
• Individuals will then place their swab into the collection tube, close the cap securely, and shake the tube vigorously 15 times. They will then hand this tube to the attendant.

Testing Locations & Schedule

Testing will be conducted in the following locations on campus:

• Students: Life Sciences Building (LS), Rooms 122 & 123 and the Plaza level entrance of the PE Complex based on the location and day, and time of your classes, as described in the “Student Schedule” section below.
• Employees: Life Sciences Building, Room 106.
• Testing will not be available on weekends.

Student Schedule:

• Students are encouraged to be tested on the day they go to class.
• If your class begins before 3:00pm, it is strongly encouraged to get tested directly after class.
• If you class begins after 3:00pm, it strongly encouraged to get tested before class.
• Make-up days for testing will be every Thursday during regular testing hours. No appointment is needed, and you may arrive at any time.

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Students with classes on Thursday or Friday, your testing site will be the Life Sciences Building, Rooms 122 &123

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Employee Schedule

• Employees who are scheduled to be on campus once per week will be tested on the day that they are on campus. 
• Employees who are scheduled to be on campus twice per week will be tested on either of the two (2) days when they are scheduled to work on campus, and may choose the day which is more convenient for them.  
• Employees who are scheduled to be on campus more than twice a week will be assigned a day to be tested based on the first letter of their last name:

• Make-up days for testing will be every Thursday during regular testing hours.
• Suggested times to appear for testing (to avoid peak testing times):
  • Monday: 10:00am-10:45 am, 12:45pm-1:45 pm, 2:30pm-3:30 pm
  • Tuesday: 12:00pm-12:45pm, 1:15-3:00pm
  • Wednesday: 10:00am–10:45am, 12:45pm–1:45pm, 2:30–4:00pm
  • Thursday: any time testing is open
  • Friday: any time testing is open

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Instructional Videos

Below are a few links to instructions for registering for the Surveillance Testing as well as to informational videos that outline some of the above-mentioned roles and proper swabbing technique for testing. You can also find additional information on surveillance testing and FAQs on SUNY Upstate’s website.

• Instructions to register for Surveillance Testing
• Swabbing Technique (students)
• Role of the Greeter and Attendants
• Role of the Pooler