Surveillance Testing

The University will administer rapid antigen tests on a weekly basis to students and employees who have not attested to being fully vaccinated. Each week the University will randomly select a sample proportion of the student and employee population who have not attested to being fully vaccinated for mandatory testing. Selected students and employees are expected to comply with surveillance testing if selected.

The number of students and employees selected will depend on the number of students and employees who have not attested to being fully vaccinated each week. A random selection of a representative cohort of students and employees will be selected for testing every week.

The testing schedule above is for Fall 2021. The Spring 2022 schedule will be published prior to the start of the Spring semester.

Selected students and employees will be notified via their Ball State email account. The email will be sent from covidtest@bsu.edu. This email from the University will be followed by a separate email from noreply@navica.abbott. Please do not delete this email. Follow the instructions from NAVICA to download the app and register and create a NAVICA Connect account to receive your test results.

Individuals without a mobile device to download the app, will be given an option for a web-based notification option or a manual email notification of test results.

The email invitation from NAVICA will look like this. It will be sent from noreply@navica.abbott.

Our primary goal is creating a safe environment to learn and work for students and employees. We believe surveillance testing compliance is important to achieve that goal. While every employee group has a discipline plan, we recognize that every situation is different. Each case will be evaluated on its own circumstances and the most appropriate disciplinary response will be based on the unique set of facts.

The University will conduct surveillance for the academic year or until public health conditions do not warrant the need for surveillance testing.

A student or employee can be selected for testing multiple times in a month, semester, or year.

No. An antibody test is not an appropriate substitute for a viral test. Consistent with CDC guidance, antibody tests should not be used to diagnose a current infection. Antibody tests are serology tests and only tell you if you had a past infection. This is not helpful for surveilling the prevalence of infection in the community.

The University will utilize the BinaxNow^TM rapid antigen tests for surveillance testing. The antigen test is a viral test and more appropriate for detecting current infection.

In some cases, the University may also use PCR or nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) for surveillance testing.

The BinaxNow^TM test is a nasal swab test.

Your test results will be available within 15 minutes via the NAVICA App or NAVICA portal. If you are unable to use the smartphone app, a web portal is also available: www.mynavica.abbott. You will need to register and create an account to connect to the Ball State portal.

If neither of these options are possible you will default to email notification of test results. If you default to the email option, you will receive your test results via your Ball State email account before 5:00 p.m. on the day your test is administered. The email will be sent from covidtest@bsu.edu.

In your NAVICA app, go to the “Account & Settings” section and enter the 12 digit code from your email invitation to “connect” to Ball State University – Passport Health.

Yes. The University will have access to your test results through the NAVICA App.

Once you are connected, your test results will be shared directly with Ball State University to compile results, state and federal reporting, and clearer insights into COVID-19 trends on our campus, and for reporting to state and federal entities.

Students and employees who test positive will be referred to contact tracers. Contact tracing is one of the most significant measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Students and employees are strongly encouraged to answer the call from the contact tracer and cooperate in providing the requested information. If the individual has caller ID, the phone will display the caller as ‘BSU COVID TEAM’ or (765) 285-7662.

Supervisors will not be informed of your test result.

Students who have a class conflict with the designated testing days and times, should email covidtest@bsu.edu to inform the University of the conflict. Please include your name, student ID number and the class conflict. You will be provided with an alternate testing option.

Employees will be paid for the time they are required to get tested. Employees must request the appropriate time away from their supervisor. 

Employees who are on vacation, sick or away from campus on the day they are supposed to get tested should get tested the following week or the next available time they are back on campus. Tests are administered every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Worthen Arena.

Students who do not comply with the mandatory testing directive will be subject to progressive discipline through the student conduct process.

Employees who do not comply with the mandatory testing directive will be subject to appropriate progressive disciplinary action consistent with the corresponding employee handbook.

You can be removed from the surveillance testing list by submitting an attestation of your fully vaccinated status. Report your vaccine status using the COVID-19 Vaccine Completion Form.

If you would like to be fully vaccinated and not subject to random surveillance testing, you may sign up to get vaccinated at ourshot.in.gov or visit the Ball State vaccination clinic website here.

If you have additional questions about surveillance testing, please email covidtest@bsu.edu or call (765) 285-3734.