Health & Safety

The state of Illinois requires each student taking 6 or more hours on any Dominican campus to document their immunization records. Required vaccinations include 2 measles (after the first birthday), a mumps, a rubella and a tetanus booster within the past 10 years.
This can be confusing to students, so help them find and submit their records if they have not already.

Dominican University Update:
So far, DU has not experienced a level of flu activity that would interfere with our learning environment, thanks to the cooperation of the entire community with efforts to prevent and safely manage the flu. This thanksgiving we are grateful for:

Dominican University has been closely monitoring developments surrounding the H1N1 virus (formerly referred to as swine flu) and we wanted to let you know that we have a plan for handling the situation should this virus become a problem on campus. Thus far, few cases of the virus have been reported to our Wellness Center.

Information about the H1N1 virus has been accessible through the university's website (www.dom.edu) since mid-September. Information concerning the virus has also been sent, via email, to all students, faculty and staff. We have encouraged our community to refer to our webpage for regular updates on the flu.

Preparing for college means preparing to stay healthy, especially this year when the swine flu threatens. Staying healthy means:

• More frequent hand washing (26 seconds with soap and water) and use of hand sanitizers which are placed throughout campus and which should also be carried on your person.
• A new ‘cover your cough and sneezes' protocol: cough into your sleeve, NOT your hands.
• Getting a reasonable amount of sleep, good nutrition and regular exercise.
• Getting a seasonal flu vaccine from your doctor or the Wellness Center if you are too far to return to your own doctor.
• Staying home when you are ill* until 24 hours AFTER you are symptom and fever free without the use of fever reducing medication.
• Having a personal emergency plan: a way to return home or to a place off campus where you can be cared for if you become seriously ill.

It's a very exciting time of year for parents who are helping students prepare to leave for college for the first time, or to return for another year of school. Hovering in the background of many parent's minds are concerns for their student's physical health and wellbeing. The Wellness Center at Dominican is prepared to take good care of students physical and mental health when they arrive on campus, so we coordinate student's health history, immunization records and the Student Health Insurance Plan. Our ability to provide excellent care to your student depends on our receiving preliminary paperwork  from each student before the fall term starts.

This fall, resident students are busy settling into their new home away from home here at Dominican University. While this is a very fun and exciting part of their college experience, it is also a time of change and transition. Many residents will have feelings of homesickness as they adjust to college life. If your son or daughter struggles with homesickness, encourage them to connect with their Resident Assistant (RA). RAs are students who are carefully selected for their ability to advise and aid resident students in everyday situations. RAs are a great resource for students who are homesick. They can help students get involved in programs and activities on their floor or around campus, or can help residents meet some of their neighbors and adjust to their new community. All RAs have been new Dominican students at some point, and can relate with the challenges of adjusting to a new school and environment. Sometimes students just need someone to talk to- and that's what an RA is there for.

The Dominican University Wellness Center provides a full array of counseling services, health services, health education, preventive health care and support and therapeutic groups.