March 23, 2020
To the William Paterson Community:
As President Helldobler has stated several times in his communications over the past couple of weeks, the COVID-19 crisis puts us all in uncharted territory. Given the uncertainty, we are all, understandably, eager for information that may impact us and our colleagues. Unfortunately, we have already seen incidents of personal and/or inaccurate health information being shared informally, both on our campus and in our surrounding communities.
As a University community, we want to be sure to be sensitive and consistent in dealing with any information we may receive about a member of our community possibly having tested positive for, or having been exposed to, COVID-19. Doing so will help protect everyone’s federal health privacy rights while ensuring that the proper health authorities can investigate any such reports and take the necessary actions to protect public health and safety.
We ask that anyone receiving such COVID-19-related information about a member of the William Paterson community immediately and exclusively contact the following:
- If the information concerns a student, please contact Dr. Jill Guzman, director of the Counseling, Health, and Wellness Center at 973-720-2360.
- If the information concerns a faculty or staff member, please contact Vice President for Human Resources Allison Boucher-Jarvis at 973-720-2133.
This will allow the University to take the proper steps in compliance with CDC, State, and local health protocols, which include contacting any members of the community, as appropriate, who may need to take follow-up action.
Helping to ensure that accurate information is being shared and acted upon is one of the most important ways that we can all support each other as a community and help confront this challenge.