The university will begin to check student’s I.D. cards at testing sites, according to an email sent to the Brandeis Community on March 19 by Assistant Provost of Strategic Initiatives Morgan Bergman. The new policy comes in response to multiple instances of students impersonating friends and submitting their sample, according to the email.
All community members are required to provide official identification with a photograph when submitting their COVID-19 tests, according to the email. Their identification can be a Brandeis I.D., a driver’s license, passport or any other equivalent document.
Community members must have I.D.’s out upon arrival at the testing site in addition to their green or yellow campus passport, according to the email. Bergman wrote that this will make testing “slightly more tedious,” but it will be done to prevent any more students from participating in these impersonations.
Any community member who either asks to have someone impersonate them or submits a false sample on behalf of someone else will receive disciplinary action, wrote Bergan. Submitting false samples is a violation of the university’s COVID-19 policies and also puts the community at risk.
In the same email, Bergman wrote that all COVID-19 test samples should be collected in a private location. The private location could be in a dorm, house, car or office with a closed door, according to the email. Testing samples should not be taken while waiting in line at the testing facility or outside of the testing locations.
The testing facilities on campus have private sample spaces available for those who do not collect their sample before arrival, wrote Bergman. COVID-19 test samples should be taken on the same day which they are submitted, according to the email.
The university has started a weekday Brandeis-Boston shuttle service for commuter community members, according to the Finance InBrief sent out to the Brandeis community. The shuttle service will leave South Station at 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and leave Usdan Student Center at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., according to the InBrief.
The shuttle service is temporary and is intended for community members who commute to the university from Boston. The Fitchburg line which runs from the Robert-Brandeis Station into Boston is currently out of service on weekdays so the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) can upgrade its Positive Train Control (PTC) system, according to the MBTA webpage. The PTC system alerts engineers when train-to-train collisions can potentially occur, if the train is moving at too fast a speed or if the train is entering a work zone, according to their page. The closure will continue through May 2.
The service is not meant to act like the Boston/Cambridge shuttle service, which was available to Brandeis community members before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Boston/Cambridge shuttle service was suspended due to health and safety measures in response to the pandemic, according to the university’s campus shuttles and van routes page.
The university will consider extending the shuttle service to the weekends if there is demand for it, according to the email.
