Introduction

            The University desires to protect the health and safety of the University community by adopting and observing the following position and guidelines on AIDS in accordance with medical knowledge as it develops.

            The University is committed to educating members of the campus community about AIDS, both to help limit the spread of the disease and to protect persons with AIDS from discriminatory actions and breaches of privacy.

            The University also seeks to provide competent health and counseling services to students affected by communicable diseases, and to treat them with respect, compassion, and due regard for their privacy. Cases of AIDS or related conditions, and inquiries, complaints, or grievances related to AIDS, will be dealt with by appropriate members of the University staff on an individual basis in accordance with these guidelines and with the best current medical information and legal opinion. These guidelines are subject to revision at any time in the light of new information or opinion.

Current Medical Information

            The University recognizes that there is no risk of infection through casual contact. However, there are activities at the University that could expose a person to blood or other risks of infection (i.e. intercollegiate athletics). This is based on the following statements as the current state of understanding concerning AIDS:

The U.S. Surgeon General's AIDS Report

"Everyday living does not present any risk of infection. You cannot get AIDS from casual social contact. Casual social contact should not be confused with casual sexual contact, which is a major cause of the spread of the AIDS virus. Casual social contact such as shaking hands, hugging, social kissing, crying, coughing or sneezing, will not transmit the AIDS virus. Nor has AIDS been contracted from swimming in pools or bathing in hot tubs or from eating in restaurants (even if a restaurant worker has AIDS or carries the AIDS virus). AIDS is not contracted from sharing bed linens, towels, cups, straws, dishes, or any other eating utensils. You cannot get AIDS from toilets, doorknobs, telephones, office machinery or household furniture.”

NCAA Guideline 2H - Blood borne Pathogens and Intercollegiate Athletics

".... there is evidence that suggests that HIV has been transmitted in household contact settings without sexual contact or IV needles showing among those household contacts. These rare instances probably occurred through unrecognized wound or mucous membrane exposure."

Prevention and Control of AIDS; An Interim Report of the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association

"As with prevention and control of all contagious disease, prevention and control of AIDS involves two, sometimes competing, concerns. First, the person who is afflicted with the disease needs compassion and treatment, and both those who have had the disease and those who have been infected with the virus should not be subjected to irrational discrimination based on fear, prejudice or stereotype. Second, and of critical importance, the uninfected must be protected; those individuals who are not infected with the AIDS virus must have every opportunity to avoid transmission of the disease to them."

Position and Guidelines

            Any reference to AIDS applies to persons who have AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) or ARC (AIDS - related complex), and to currently healthy persons with positive tests for an antibody to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Non-Discrimination

            No person will be denied admission to or enrollment in the university, excluded from or limited in the use of residential, dining or recreational facilities or denied participation in instructional, cultural, religious, athletic, social or other activities, solely because of a diagnosis or suspicion of AIDS.

            No person will be denied employment, dismissed from employment, or restricted as to work assignment or opportunities for job change or promotion, solely because of a diagnosis of AIDS, ARC, or a positive antibody test for HIV.

Confidentiality

            A person's health condition is confidential. Every reasonable effort should be made to protect the privacy and confidentiality of persons with AIDS. When requesting information or advice from a source on or off campus regarding a person with AIDS, members of the University community are cautioned against revealing the person's name or giving other identifying information. Members of the University community should not disclose the identity of a person with AIDS except under the following circumstances:

1.         Where the law requires disclosure, such as when a physician who has diagnosed a case of AIDS has to report the patient by name to public health authorities.

2.         A member of the University community may, unless prohibited by legal privilege, reveal to the vice president in charge of that member's area the identity of an employee under his/her jurisdiction of supervision who has AIDS. The vice president may in turn inform the president of the University.

No member of the University community, except duly designated information officers, should make any statement to representatives of the media about a case or alleged case of AIDS.

            When, according to current medical knowledge and legal opinion, the behavior of a person with AIDS poses a danger to that individual or to others, the vice president may reveal such diagnosis and status to other University officials, law enforcement officials, the individual's family, and others, as appropriate. Factors to be considered include the nature of the risk (how AIDS is transmitted), the duration of the risk (how long that person has been infectious), the severity of the risk (what the potential harm is to third parties), and the probabilities that the disease will be transmitted and will cause varying degrees of harm. Such revelation will be made only after consultation with legal and medical authorities. Initial consultation will be with the University's director for legal affairs and University counsel and the medical director of the Gosiger Health Center.

University Action

            Unless the vice president determines that this review indicates a danger of exposure to health and safety risks of the person with AIDS, or others, no person will be denied admission to or enrollment to the University, suspended, dismissed, excluded from or limited to the use of University facilities, or denied participation in University activities.

            Without such prior determination, likewise no person will be denied employment, dismissed or restricted as to work assignment or opportunities for job change or promotion. 

            After the vice president's review of any individual case, an evaluation shall be made whether the University can reasonably accommodate the person with AIDS. 

            If the vice president determines that this review indicates a danger of exposure to health and safety risks of the person with AIDS, or others, the University may take appropriate action, which may include: 

1.   Interruption of class attendance.

2.   Change in living arrangements. 

3.   Change in academic, athletic or social activities. 

4.   Change of employment assignment. 

5.   Medical leave of absence. 

Counseling and Education

            While not required to do so, any persons with AIDS are urged to make their condition known so they can receive proper services from appropriate University departments, with the full confidence of the University's support as set forth in this statement.

            Counseling of a person with AIDS should include advice to avoid activities that may lead to spread of the disease to others, including sexual contact, blood donation, and sharing of needles, razors, and other articles that may become contaminated with blood. The infected person should also be advised to make the condition known to doctors, dentists, and others who may be at special risk of acquiring the AIDS virus.

            The University urges all members of its staff to become informed about AIDS. Professional staff members in human resources, health education, health care, and counseling are expected to have sufficient knowledge to provide clear and accurate answers to basic questions about the nature, transmission, and health consequences of AIDS. From time to time the University will plan and sponsor educational programs directed to all segments of the campus community to impact current information and guidance about AIDS.