Carteret Community College is dedicated to providing access to quality educational programs regardless of disability and within the limits of available resources. The College recognizes the serious implications that the spread of communicable disease has on the health, safety, and welfare of the students, faculty, staff, and general public. Therefore, the College is committed to ensuring that each employee and student be provided with a safe and healthy working/learning environment.
- Carteret Community College assumes responsibility for conducting an ongoing educational campaign designed to reach all campus constituents (students, staff, and general public), to provide basic information about prevalent communicable diseases. The campaign will be designed to reach all members (including high-risk groups) of the College community on a continuing basis and through a variety of methods.
- Persons who are infected with a reportable communicable disease will not be excluded from enrollment or employment, or restricted in their access to Carteret Community College’s services or facilities, unless an individualized, medically-based evaluation determines a direct, significant risk to the health or safety of the College community that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
- Persons who know, or have reasonable basis for believing that they are infected with a reportable communicable disease are expected to seek expert advice about their health circumstances and are obliged, ethically and legally, to conduct themselves responsibly in accordance with such knowledge, for the protection of other members of the community.
- All medical information related to the communicable diseases of Carteret Community College employees and students shall be kept confidential unless specific written consent is provided, or the reporting of such information is required by state and/or federal law.
- The assessment of an employee or employees of a contractor or contracted service with a suspected communicable disease and the final determination of that employee's ability to remain on the job shall be made by the President of Carteret Community College, after consultation with the Director of Human Resources, and based on recommendations from the local health authorities. If an employee or employee of a contractor or contracted service is found to have a communicable disease, the President may prohibit attendance or participating in work at the College until a letter or certificate is obtained from one or more licensed physicians and/or public health officials stating that the attendance of the employee or employee of a contractor or contracted service no longer constitutes a health risk to other employees and students at the College.
- The assessment of a student with a suspected communicable disease and the final determination of that student's ability to remain in college shall be made by the Dean of Student Services, after consultation with the Vice President for Instruction and Student Support, and based upon recommendations from local health authorities. If a student is found to have a communicable disease, the Dean of Student Services may prohibit attendance at the College until a letter or certificate is obtained from one or more licensed physicians and/or public health officials stating that the attendance of the student no longer constitutes a health risk to employees and other students at the College.
- Carteret Community College will widely publicize and carefully observe the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard established by the North Carolina Department of Labor.
- This policy will be widely publicized on the Carteret Community College campus.
- This policy will be implemented under the direction of the Carteret Community College President and will be reviewed, at least annually, for possible revision due to medical and legal updates.
- The Carteret Community College Director of Marketing and Public Affairs is designated as the primary spokesperson for the institution to respond to questions about the College’s communicable disease policy and practices.
Definition of Terms:
A communicable disease is any condition which is transmitted directly or indirectly to a person from an infected person or animal through the agency of an intermediate host or vector or through the inanimate environment. Communicable diseases are spread via airborne pathogens or contact with human blood or bodily fluids. Often the terms infectious and contagious are used to describe communicable disease.
Communicable diseases include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Chicken Pox (Varicella)
- Diphtheria
- Gonorrhea
- Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)
- Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Influenza (Flu)
- Impetigo
- Meningitis
- MRSA
- Measles (Rubeola)
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Syphilis
- Tuberculosis (TB)
A reportable communicable disease is a communicable disease of unusual significance, incidence, or occurrence which may merit an epidemiological evaluation and is of most importance from a public health perspective.