The Schmidt College of Science put out a call for student volunteers to serve as COVID-19 Safety Ambassadors for the Fall 2020 semester on both the Davie and Boca Raton campuses. Following the call, 87 students were accepted to serve as a safety ambassador. The volunteers worked collaboratively with the college to increase public health awareness on campus and in the classroom through advocating for the University's COVID-19 prevention guidelines to ensure a safer campus environment for in-person courses. In total, the student ambassadors assisted with 294 in-person sections during the fall semester. The College of Science thanks the ambassadors who provided this outstanding service to the college.

Support was provided by volunteers from across the college, in particular, the pre-health student organizations, who provided students in their organizations noble hours for volunteering. The Pre-Health Professions Office organized the COVID-19 Safety Ambassadors initiative in the college. Student volunteers were provided with distinctive apparel to easily identify their role, including shirts provided by the Office of the Provost, and FAU branded masks.

The students volunteered for at least two hours per week, and earned a certificate of completion after completing 100 or more hours.

While some student volunteers helped correct safety issues, many had a positive experience serving in the ambassador role:

“I thought it was great. I got to meet other people and observe how others were dealing with the pandemic.”

“I did not have any challenges. The students were mature and well behaved. Mostly future doctors so they were well aware of the importance of social distancing.”

“I really enjoyed this experience because I felt that I could help freshmen as well as new students adjust to college. I had a very hard time freshman year finding my classes and adjusting to a college lifestyle. I felt this was a perfect opportunity to help other students adjust to school while keeping each other safe.”

“I found this experience to be super rewarding in a way that I could learn in my regular class setting while enforcing guidelines to keep my colleagues and professors safe.”

Some of the goals of the ambassadors include:

• Act as peer advocates for setting positive norms and behaviors related to COVID-19 risk reduction. 
• Emphasize the necessity of the CDC Guidelines, and corresponding safety measures among students so that the campus community remains healthy. 
• Intervene in the planning of events or activities that pose significant risk of COVID-19 transmission in order to prevent those events or substantially reduce their risks. 
• Support faculty in encouraging face covering at all times. 
• Encourage physical distancing at all times, in particular during entry to and exit from laboratories and classrooms. 
• Provide directions to nearest hand sanitizer stations or sinks for hand hygiene.