By Cristi McKee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla — Starting September 14, 2020, Florida State University will be randomly selecting students to participate in their randomized COVID-19 testing program to “help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Our goal is to ensure the safety of the campus community,” as said in a press release published Monday.

Testing will take place at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, is free, and participants will receive an email with their test results within hours to a day or two upon getting tested. Participants for the randomized testing program are selected based on a weekly review of on-campus activity like Wi-Fi use, card swipes into buildings on campus, and participation at events.

Then, these testing invitations are randomized into three main groups: residents in dorms, students living off-campus, and staff and faculty. Participants who are randomly selected will be invited by email on a Monday morning to take part in the testing program that same week. Results of the program will then be reported to university administration in aggregate form after epidemiological review.

Still, voluntary testing will continue to be offered at the Civic Center via appointments, walk-ups, and pop-up testing across campus. Clinical appointments for symptomatic students are available at University Health Services on campus.

Read today’s press release online, here, and the original press release, online, here.