Beginning October 28, CUID cards will be temporarily deactivated following five building access attempts with an incomplete ReopenCU daily COVID-19 symptom attestation.

In an email sent to students on Thursday morning, Columbia announced a new policy stating that CUID cards will be temporarily deactivated after five swipes into buildings without having completed the symptom self-check in the ReopenCU app.

Completion of the daily attestation in the ReopenCU application is part of the “Columbia Community Health Compact” that the university has enforced since Fall 2020 as an effort to maintain the “safety of our community,” said Columbia’s Senior Executive Vice President Gerry Rosberg in the email.  According to Rosberg, ReopenCU has a daily reminder feature, which once enabled, will remind students to complete the attestation in order to access campus buildings.

If a student does swipe into a building without completing the required form, they will receive an email reminding them to complete the attestation. After five of these swipes without completing the ReopenCU attestation, a student’s CUID card will be deactivated temporarily. Once a CUID card is inactivated, the student must complete the attestation on their mobile device and wait “about 10 minutes” for their CUID card to be reactivated.

It is unclear if this new policy will also apply to Barnard students who use CoVerified to access campus buildings.

Bwog has contacted Barnard and will update this article as we receive further information.

Email sent to students from Columbia’s Senior Executive VP Gerry Rosberg and Columbia Health’s Senior VP Melanie Bernitz on October 28 at 11:14 am EST:

Dear Columbia University Community Member,

This email is to remind you that the daily symptom self-check is required for all Columbia faculty, staff, and students accessing campus buildings as part of the Columbia Compact that you have committed to. It is important that you complete the attestation prior to accessing the campus each day. Your attention to this requirement contributes to the safety of our community.

The following system features are in place to help remind you when an attestation needs to be completed:

  1. The ReopenCU app provides a daily reminder feature (https://covid19.columbia.edu/app#/cu_accordion_item-2788) which, once you enable it, will allow you to set a specific time at which the app will remind you to complete the attestation. Simply select the time at which you want your phone to receive a reminder.
  2. Each time you swipe your CUID card without a valid attestation in place, you receive an email that reminds you to complete the attestation.
  3. Beginning today, October 28th, if you swipe your ID on campus five (5) or more times without having an active attestation in place, your ID card will be inactivated.

If, at any time, your ID card is inactivated because you swiped more than five times without an attestation, simply complete the daily attestation and your ID card will be reactivated within about 10 minutes.

Thank you for your attention to this important requirement.

Sincerely,

Gerry Rosberg

Senior Executive Vice President

Melanie Bernitz, MD, MPH

Senior Vice President, Columbia Health       

Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine (in the Center for Family and Community Medicine)

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