UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Starting Aug. 6, a faculty and staff COVID-19 symptom checker will go live as part of a new employee-centered experience in the Penn State Go app. In addition to the symptom checker, the new Faculty and Staff Experience will feature access to Penn State email, Canvas Teacher, a link to Workday, additional coronavirus resources, and much more. 

Faculty and staff can select the Faculty and Staff Experience when prompted in the app to select an experience or by using the “Change App Experience” icon in Penn State Go.

All faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to complete the COVID-19 symptom checker on the Penn State Go mobile app to self-screen for potential COVID-19 symptoms before returning to campus. It is recommended that faculty and staff complete the symptom checker daily prior to leaving their homes and arriving on campus premises.

Details on the student COVID-19 symptom checker, which is expected to go live in the Penn State Go app on Aug. 10, will be made available in the coming days.

“As we phase more faculty and staff to return to campus this fall, our focus is on health and safety while providing support for multiple methods of teaching, additional opportunities for communication, and quick access to University resources,” said Lorraine Goffe, vice president for Human Resources and chief human resources officer. “It is critical that we remain vigilant in practicing COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including daily self-screening for symptoms, staying home if you have symptoms, using face coverings, social distancing, and practicing regular hand-washing.”

Initially focused on the student mobile experience, development of the app rapidly accelerated, driven in part by the pandemic, and the need to extend University resources to reach the broader Penn State community.

“Penn State Go provides mobile-friendly access to processes across all Penn State campuses, including support of our pandemic mitigation and containment plans by integrating the daily symptom checkers,” said Nick Jones, executive vice president and provost. “Given the rapidly developing circumstances related to COVID-19, testing and tracing plans will evolve to incorporate the most current information and recommendations. Penn State Go allows us to communicate quickly when any new actions are warranted as new information emerges.”

Since the app’s launch in January 2020, Penn State Go has had more than 56,000 downloads from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. 

For more information, visit the Penn State Go website and learn about its features. 

For the latest updates about Penn State’s response to the global coronavirus outbreak, visit virusinfo.psu.edu.