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Â鶹ÊÓƵ is aware of the complexity of medical, legal, and administrative problems associated with controlling communicable diseases such as: AIDS, Hepatitis B, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases. The college also recognizes that efforts to increase awareness about AIDS, Hepatitis B, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases and providing information to help prevent further spread of these diseases must be one of its priority goals.

However, persons infected with a contagious or non-contagious disease will not be excluded from enrollment or employment, or restricted in their access to Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s services or facilities, unless there is a direct and significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation. The College’s decisions involving the exclusion or restriction of individuals who have communicable diseases shall be based on reasonable medical judgments given the current state of medical knowledge, the risks of transmission to others, the severity of the potential harm, the symptoms and special circumstances of each individual who has a communicable disease, and the careful weighing of the identified risks and the available alternatives to responding to a student or employee with a communicable disease.

Persons who know, or have reasonable basis for believing, that they are infected are expected to seek expert advice about their health circumstances and are obligated—ethically and legally—to conduct themselves responsibly to prevent the spread of communicable disease in accordance with the control measures prescribed by the North Carolina Commission for Health Services, pursuant to North Carolina General Statute § 130A-144.

Individuals who have communicable diseases are encouraged to voluntarily share that information with their department director, chair, dean or advisor so the College can assist in the appropriate response to their health and education needs, including any reasonable accommodations they may be entitled to by law. Additionally, individuals who pose a significant risk of transmitting an infectious disease that would cause harm to others are required to disclose such information. If information regarding an individual’s communicable disease is shared with a College official, it shall remain confidential, in accordance with applicable laws that protect the privacy of individuals who have communicable diseases. Such information will be disclosed only to responsible College officials, as necessary, on a strictly limited, need-to-know basis, unless the individual consents in writing to other releases of the information.