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Health Guidelines

The OSG School 2026 at the UW–Madison welcomes participants from around the United States. This page contains health guidelines for this year’s School. We are especially focused on preventing the spread of infectious illnesses, such as COVID-19, colds, flu, GI viruses, and so on.

It is very important to us that everyone stays safe and healthy throughout the whole School. We will have the best event possible if everyone stays well! There are no hard rules here, just a reminder that we are all in this together.

If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about these guidelines, please email us at [email protected] or message us on Slack.

Before Traveling to the School

If you have had COVID, a cold, or the flu recently (past 2 weeks or so), please follow CDC guidelines for what to do when sick.

If you do not feel well enough to travel for any reason, please let us know immediately so we can accommodate (see below for remote participation options).

While in Madison

Wearing a mask is welcome at the School itself when indoors or in other poorly ventilated areas. It is best to bring your own mask, although we have a few to hand out.

We encourage everyone to consider outdoor dining options when reasonable — not just for reducing risk, but also because Madison is beautiful in the summer! Morgridge Hall has multiple options for getting outside.

While in Madison, if you feel unwell, stay home or at the hotel. When you can, let School staff know why you are absent — by email or Slack — and if you would like to keep up with exercises and lectures, we will help support you remotely (see below).

If you experience possible symptoms of COVID-19 or other respiratory illness, follow CDC guidelines for what to do when sick.

Remote Attendance

If you are in Madison and are sick or quarantined, or if you are not able to travel to Madison, we will do our best to support you via remote attendance. We learned a lot about remote events during the pandemic! We can:

  • Stream lectures live over Zoom
  • Post all slides and exercises on the website
  • Be active on Slack and email
  • Conduct one-on-one consultations over Zoom

As long as you feel up to it, we will do our best to support you during the School.