Opinion | Response to ‘new testing strategy has a fatal flaw’

Randy Burba, chief of Public Safety

I appreciated reading Ms. Angelina Hicks’ opinion piece in the most recent issue from The Panther regarding “a fatal flaw” in our testing program, because it alerted me that more communication is needed. On Jan. 22, Parking and Transportation Services worked with the Student Health Center and Residence Life and First Year Experience to create a temporary manual process to address this very issue. We announced this manual process Jan. 25 to Resident Life staff to pass on to affected residents. We also informed the drivers so they could offer the solution to those attempting to board for the purpose of going to get tested.

A resident of Panther Village or Chapman Grand, who has fallen off the daily screening and needs to ride the shuttle to the health center to get tested, can complete their daily screening and attest to it on a paper form. They then can present that form to the shuttle driver while boarding the shuttle. Residents can check in with their Residence Life representatives to obtain the form. The forms are also available in the lobby of both locations and the Student Health Center. We have also made the form available on the Parking and Transportation website.

If residents have difficulty contacting a Residence Life staff member, they can call Public Safety and they will assist in connecting them. This protocol was put into practice the week of Jan. 25 and many residents have already utilized this solution to obtain a ride to campus to be tested.

To address any sanitation concerns our passengers may have, Chapman University has been proactive in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 by implementing industry best practices in keeping the fleet sanitized. All shuttles undergo daily sanitation based on ambulance and hospital protocols and frequently touched services are wiped down throughout the day. Partitions were installed between all rows of seats and around the driver compartment. And finally, passenger capacity has been limited and masks are required to be worn by all passengers.

We appreciate passengers reaching out with any questions or concerns to parking@chapman.edu.