James B. Hart

Faculty should clearly communicate with students their expectations for absences due to H1N1 this semester.  Examples of expectations faculty may want to discuss with their students are:

• Students who are ill with H1N1 should “self-isolate”—i.e., severely curtail their interactions with others except to seek medical care—until at least 24 hours after they no longer display fever symptoms without the aid of fever-reducing medicine. More specifically, students who are only mildly sick with flu-like symptoms (cough, cold, diarrhea, and/or body aches) are encouraged to stay home until at least 24 hours after the last fever (<100 F), while no longer taking medication.  The majority of people infected by the H1N1 flu experience relatively mild symptoms.  Students will typically be absent from three to five days.

• Students who are more than mildly sick, or have flu-like symptoms and are at a higher risk for a more severe infection, should seek medical attention immediately. Certain populations at a higher risk to develop a more severe case of the disease include individuals with significant lung disease, compromised immune systems, a chronic illness or who are pregnant.

• Students should notify the instructor of an absence due to flu as soon as possible via email or D2L communication. Ill students will be directed to Health Services or their primary care provider, and encouraged not to attend classes until they are without fever for at least 24 hours.  However, students will not be required to obtain doctor’s notes to excuse absences from class due to illness.  This is due to the CDC’s anticipation that students and employees may not be able to obtain doctor’s notes in a timely manner after recovering from H1N1 or other illnesses due to the burden on health care facilities.

• MTSU Health Services may issue notes to students not to address specifics about how long they should be out, but to state they have symptoms consistent with H1N1 flu which is for explanation to their professor.  It will be the student's choice to share or not share with their professor.  Currently, MTSU Health Services provides a "receipt" of their office visit to students that a student may choose to share with professors to prove a visit to MTSU Health Services.

• Specific H1N1 tests will not be performed on each student.  MTSU Health Services offers a flu test ($12 student price) that can differentiate between Type "A" and Type "B" flu.  H1N1 is a type "A" flu.  Doctors can prescribe Relenza and Tamiflu for patients with Type A flu.

• Students are encouraged to complete course work if they need to be absent due to illness from the flu. Students who can utilize distance-learning methods may be able to continue studies even while ill. Faculty are encouraged to develop distance learning strategies, flextime and remote working arrangements, and other methods of limiting face-to-face contact while maintaining operations in the event of a campus outbreak of H1N1 flu. 

Information Resource Links

• CDC guidance specific to colleges and universities: http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/higheredguidance.html
• President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Executive Report: U.S. Preparations for the 2009-H1N1 Influenza: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/PCAST_H1N1_Report.pdf
• http://www.flu.gov/ (Federal one-stop information site)
• http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ (CDC flu site)
• http://www.dhs.gov/files//programs/swine-flu.shtm (Homeland Security flu site)
• http://www.hhs.gov/ (U.S. Health and Human Services flu site)
• http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/pandemic/index.html (U.S. Department of Education flu site)

Links to Professional Organizations

American Mathematical Society Pi Mu Epsilon Mathematics Fraternity National Association of Mathematicians Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Mathematical Association of America Society of Actuaries American Statistical Association Sigma Xi Scientific Research Fraternity