Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State of North Carolina, Carteret Community College has removed the requirement for face coverings on campus but encourages unvaccinated individuals to continue wearing masks until they are fully vaccinated.

It depends on which manufacturer’s shot you received.

Individuals are not considered fully vaccinated until two weeks has passed since the last required dose of the vaccine.  As of March 2021, there are only three approved manufacturers for vaccine on an emergency use in the United State: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.  You can find the name of your manufacturer on your vaccination card given to you by your vaccinator.  If you received a shot from Pfizer or Moderna, you will be required to take two shots before you are fully vaccinated.  The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a one dose shot.

For more information on current CDC recommendations visit their page: Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People

If you are willing to share your vaccination record with the College, you can be added to a list of individuals who will not need to quarantine for up to 90 days once fully vaccinated, unless you develop COVID-like symptoms.  Employees should contact HR (bryanta@carteret.edu or 252-222-6225) to share the card.  Students should contact the Dean of Student Services (merckd@carteret.edu or 252-222-6021).  All vaccination records become a part of confidential medical records stored separately from other personnel or student records.

Important Note: While the vaccine makes it less likely for an individual to contract COVID-19, it is still possible.  If symptoms develop you should remain off-campus, seek medical attention to be evaluated for possible illness and self-report to the College.

For more information on current CDC recommendations visit their page: Interim Public Health Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People

Out of an abundance of caution and desire to protect your health and safety, Carteret Community College is following the CDC’s guidance and has reinstate the masking requirement until further notice. This requirement applies to vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.

Starting Thursday, August 12, we ask all members of our campus community and visitors to wear a mask inside all college buildings and outside if you are in close contact with others. Please help us reach the same level of compliance that allowed us to keep number of cases very low in the spring and summer semesters.

Carteret Community College has implemented numerous COVID-19 safeguards and protocol to ensure that students can continue their education and achieve their educational and career goals. The following list will be updated regularly to include the latest guidance from state and local health authorities:

• Scheduling classes and meetings to accommodate three-foot social distancing
• Keeping an updated COVID-19 web page
• Following Health Department protocols for quarantines when required
• Added additional wipe-downs to cleanse classrooms and restrooms between class sessions, particularly doorknobs, keyboards, and surfaces. Sanitization of hallway door handles, surfaces frequently touched in common areas, and bathrooms will occur multiple times a day.
• Use of Ryobi spray sanitizer backpacks to clean surfaces
• Providing Temperature Verification Kiosks for self-checking temperatures in building lobbies
• Making accommodations for individuals with documented health conditions or special circumstances
• Positioning hand-sanitizer stations strategically across campus
• Hanging plexiglass shields over help desks and reception areas with high public contact

Additionally, Carteret CC has developed a plan which will offer in-person, online, hybrid, web-supported, and synchronous classes. Below is a list of class modality definitions:

1. In-person- These classes are offered 100% face-to-face in a seated classroom.
2. Online- These classes are offered 100% online with flexible schedules
3. Hybrid- These classes are conducted 51% or more online with some face-to-face set meetings.
4. Web-supported- These classes are conducted 51% or more through face-to-face set meetings with some work and resources online.
5. Synchronous- These classes are 100% online. Students will log in to meet with their instructor virtually at scheduled times and days each week.

We urge students to speak with an academic advisor to select classes and modalities that best fit their comfort level.

Carteret CC students and employees can be tested for COVID-19 by their physician, at local pharmacies, or at county health departments.

Carteret County Health Department (252)728-8550

Onslow County Health Department (910)347-2154

Craven County Health Department (252)636-4920

Employees who participate in the State Health Plan (BCBS) clan can be tested by their primary physician at no charge, if it is medically necessary.

*Carteret Community College requires LAB COVID-19 test because rapid tests have a higher degree of false negatives.

Carteret CC has created a process for students, faculty, and staff to self-report COVID-19 cases. If you experience COVID-19 symptoms, test positive for COVID-19 (or a health care provider tells you that you are presumed positive), or if someone in your immediate household tests positive, please notify the College by filling out the self-report form above. This procedure is voluntary, and the information submitted will be shared only with limited College officials to make a determination if additional cleaning and other response actions need to be taken on campus. Employees should also notify their supervisor and contact Human Resources regarding eligibility for COVID-19 leave provisions that are currently in effect. Please note that completing the form does not serve as notification to your supervisor that you are not available for work.  

If you do not have internet access at the time which you need to report your case, Students should call 252-222-6060 and Employees should call 252-222-6225 to complete the report.

Contact tracing is the systematic identification and monitoring of all persons who are a close contact of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 during their infectious period. In instances where a Carteret CC student or employee reports testing positive or feeling ill, the College will take preliminary steps to understand whether other members of the Carteret CC community may have been exposed through close contact (e.g., will ask about roommates, close co-workers) and may ask that they be tested and/or self quarantine as a precaution.  The formal process of contact tracing is conducted by the county health department and starts once someone tests positive for COVID-19. The College will assist with this process by providing information regarding schedules, living/working locations, and known activities on campus.  If the county health department determines you to be a close contact of someone who has tested positive, you will receive a phone call from NC OUTREACH (844-628-7223) or the local health department. It is important that you answer or return this call. To see how the contact tracing process works, review this sample contact tracing case.

The College is committed to providing reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of employees, students and other visitors to our campus.  Leadership and other partners are routinely reviewing information provided by local, state, and federal health officials and using that information to inform the College’s response to the virus.  The more proactive and intentional we are in controlling exposure on the front end, the better our chances of completing the semester without a significant outbreak that puts additional stress on academic success.  In that spirit, the College has revised and adopted a protocol as it relates to overnight travel.

According to the CDC, “travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19.  Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.”  While travel for College business is generally still suspended, we recognize that many of you may travel for personal reasons.  Following is the College’s requirements for those who choose or need to travel overnight away from home.

Students should report overnight travel to Student Services at COVIDconcerns@carteret.edu or (252)222-6060. Employees should report overnight travel to Amanda Bryant, Director of Human Resources bryanta@carteret.edu or (252)222-6225.

Employees should report overnight travel away from home to their immediate supervisor and to Human Resources, prior to leaving for the trip when plans are foreseeable.  If the trip is emergent in nature, employees should contact their supervisor and Human Resources prior to returning to campus after the trip. Human Resources, guided by the most current guidance from the CDC, and other health officials will ask a series of questions to better understand your planned travel and assess potential risk of increased transmission or exposure of the virus to our campus upon your return.  This information will be used to help in discussions regarding decisions for possible post-trip quarantine from campus, or other measures that might need to be in place to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus on our campus.

If you experience COVID-19 symptoms, test positive for COVID-19 (or a health care provider tells you that you are presumed positive), or if someone in your immediate household tests positive, please notify the College by filling out the COVID-19 Self Reporting Form above. This procedure is voluntary, and the information submitted will be shared only with limited College officials to make a determination if additional cleaning and other response actions need to be taken on campus.

Students should contact Student Services at COVIDconcerns@carteret.edu or (252)222-6060. Employees experiencing symptoms, or notice someone that is, isolate as much as possible and contact Amanda Bryant, Director of Human Resources bryanta@carteret.edu or (252)222-6225.

Following guidelines from Carteret County Health Department and recommendations from the CDC, students who are exposed to a known case of COVID-19 or who become ill will be asked to return home. Furthermore, students exposed to a known case of COVID-19 or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should complete the Self-report form above. Students may also contact Student Services at COVIDconcerns@carteret.edu or by calling (252) 222-6060. Employees may contact Human Resources at personnel@carteret.edu or (252)222-6225.

The following actions are part of Carteret CC’s COVID-19 Cleaning Plan to help fight the spread of COVID-19:

• Disinfect high-touch surfaces multiple times per day in public areas including door knobs/handles, elevator call buttons, door push-plates, stairway railings, etc.
• Increase classroom surface cleaning and disinfection from daily to multiple times a day as allowed by class schedule.
• Restroom disinfection will occur multiple times per day by adding disinfecting to normal bathroom checks.
• Increase use of machine-aided cleaning systems in heavily used restrooms.
• Disinfecting wipes will also be available for faculty and staff to wipe down their office areas.
• Housekeeping will clean and disinfect offices on a weekly basis and could increase cleaning and disinfection of offices in cooperation with occupants and building contacts.

For matters related to employees and COVID-19, contact Amanda Bryant, Director of Human Resources bryanta@carteret.edu (x6225). For matters related to students and COVID-19, contact Student Services at (252) 222-6060 or COVIDconcerns@carteret.edu.  For matters related to Facilities, contact Steve Sparks, VP of Operations and Facilities  sparkss@carteret.edu (x6087).  If you are not sure whom to call, first reach out to Amanda Bryant in Human Resources.