Introducing the Ithaca College Badge System for Students

By Ellyn Sellers-Selin, February 5, 2021
A message from Dr. Ellyn Sellers-Selin, Physician and Medical Services Director for the Center for Counseling, Health and Wellness

IC Public Health Column video. 

Ithaca College has adopted a digital badge system this semester to help monitor student compliance with the daily health screening and surveillance testing. It is also a mechanism for students who require quarantine or isolation to visualize their status, which indicates their inability to access campus until they are cleared. All students accessing campus this semester, even those indicating remote status but who live locally, will have their badges enabled. 

Students can access the badge system via their phones or a computer. Students may be asked to produce a green badge at different locations across campus using their phone or computer in order to access those locations. Here are a few situations where a student may be asked to show a green badge: 

  • When entering the Fitness Center or Library 

  • When entering a classroom 

  • When entering the dining hall 

  • When being granted access to team practice as a student athlete 

badges

The badge status types and definitions are: 

  

Cleared (green): Up to date on daily health screening ("Survey") and surveillance testing ("Lab Test"). Not in quarantine or isolation. Cleared to access campus. 

Overdue (yellow): Has not completed daily health screening ("Survey"), surveillance testing ("Lab Test"), or both. Not cleared to access campus.  

Quarantine (orange): Status is in quarantine due to close contact with a positive case. Not cleared to access campus. 

Isolation (red): Status is in isolation. Has recent positive test result requiring isolation or has indicated having symptoms of COVID-19 during daily health screening. Not cleared to access campus. 

NA (blue): Screening badge is not enabled. If student is local, they should contact the Hammond Health Center so the badge can be enabled. 

The badge conveniently shows the date and time so that students can demonstrate that their badge status is current. 

Students need to carefully complete their daily health screening ("Survey") as their answers affect their badge status. Returning to the "green" cleared status is accomplished through cooperation between the Hammond Health Center and Tompkins County Health Department. Changes in status to the "green" cleared status are made during Hammond Health Center business hours, Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

It is important to remember that while a green badge status is required in order to access most campus locations, the "green" cleared status badge does not mean that a student is free from COVID-19 infection. It means that they are completing their daily health screening ("Survey"), testing twice weekly and their test results are negative. Continued infection prevention measures such as mask-wearing, physical distancing and good hand hygiene are still extremely important! Please continue to abide by the Community Agreement. 

Access the Badging System

There are a few easy ways that students may access their badge status: 

  • When completing the Daily Health Screening ("Survey"), which is sent via secure email each morning. 

  • By searching for "myichealth." This will bring students to the log-in screen for their Hammond Health Center portal. Once in the health portal, students may click on "Show Badge" to bring up their status. 

For more information visit the IC Health Badge website.

Sincerely, 
 

Ellyn Sellers-Selin  
Physician and Medical Services Director, Center for Counseling, Health and Wellness