Sent on behalf of the Dean of Students and VP Enrollment, Communications and Marketing

Students, faculty and staff,

The South Dakota Department of Health, in partnership with Vault Health Inc., is now offering at-home COVID-19 testing kits, available at no cost to South Dakota residents. This is a great opportunity for you and your loved ones to take part in free testing while at home over break.

Northern continues to work with the South Dakota Department of Health and plans to hold a mass testing event on campus the first week of spring semester. However, we also encourage you to take advantage of the state’s convenient new offering and request a free at-home test kit prior to returning to campus.

To request an at-home test, please click here, navigate through the SDDOH/Vault Health portal to receive a saliva-based kit, complete the specimen collection, and ship to the Vault Health laboratory for testing. Your sample will ship via prepaid UPS package (generally, one to two business days, per ups.com). Once it arrives at the lab, you’ll get results within 24 to 48 hours.

Testing before you come back is one more way to keep our campus and community healthy and safe and slow the spread of COVID-19. Remember, we’re all in this together.

For more information and the latest resources, visit covid.sd.gov or northern.edu/coronavirus.

Sincerely,

Sean Blackburn, Dean of Students

Justin Fraase, VP of Enrollment, Communications and Marketing