Campus Life

COVID-19 testing moving from White Building to 101 North Atherton Street

The new Employee and Student Test Center will open on April 11

The new Employee and Student Test Center will open on April 11 at 101 North Atherton Street on the corner of North Atherton and West College Avenue.  Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff at University Park is moving from the White Building to the new Employee and Student Test Center at 101 North Atherton Street.

The White Building COVID-19 testing site will be open through Friday, April 8, and the new site will begin operations on Monday, April 11. The new testing site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least the spring semester. Operated in partnership with Vault Health, the testing site will continue to offer rapid testing and a limited number of PCR tests. On-site parking is available but limited.

“The White Building Test Center has been instrumental in our COVID-19 efforts to offer testing to thousands of students and employees during the course of the pandemic,” said Kelly Wolgast, director of the University’s COVID-19 Operations Control Center (COCC). “I am very proud of the successful operations there and grateful to all the employees who have spent countless hours supporting and administering asymptomatic testing. I think we achieved a high level of customer service for our University Park community."  

With improved pandemic conditions across Pennsylvania and the University pausing its required testing for students and employees, demand for asymptomatic COVID-19 testing has significantly decreased, said Wolgast. Lower demand means the testing operations can move to a smaller site and the University can return the White Building to its pre-pandemic use purposes supporting academics and student activities.  

The new testing site will be open for asymptomatic students and employees, although employees are encouraged to seek testing through their health care provider or other local COVID-19 testing options.

“We continue to encourage the Penn State community to test if they are symptomatic, if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if they suspect they’ve been exposed to COVID-19,” said Cara Exten, assistant professor of nursing and member of the COCC. “Through rapid testing and immediate quarantine/isolation, we can all contribute to continued low rates of COVID-19 in our community.”

Symptomatic employees should stay home from work and are advised to schedule an appointment with their health care provider for testing. 

Students who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should not go to classes or other activities and seek out symptomatic testing through a University or local health care provider. At University Park, students living on campus or in the local community who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 should continue to schedule testing appointments with University Health Services (UHS) via myUHS. Students living on or near other Penn State campuses should seek symptomatic testing via their campus’ health services or a local provider. 

As a reminder, free, at-home rapid tests provided by the U.S. government are available to be ordered online at covidtests.gov.

Last Updated April 6, 2022