Buff Pass Information and FAQ

Buff Pass provides daily information to detect the emergence of COVID-19 infection among individuals working on campus.

The questionnaire is a brief set of questions that all students, faculty and staff who will be on campus are required to complete daily before coming to campus. Through the check-in, campus community members are asked brief questions related to symptoms and any recent close contacts with a probable case of COVID-19.

If the answers identify any concerns, i.e., a positive screen, the submitter will be advised of next steps.

Data from Buff Pass provides information that helps the Medical Services team identify possible outbreaks on campus. Knowing about potential cases in close to real-time will help inform steps that may be needed to curb the possible spread of COVID-19, such as testing, isolation or contact tracing.  

Monitoring our community’s health for possible outbreaks is a best practice recommended by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College Health Association (ACHA).

Daily, before you engage in any on-campus activities. This can include–but is not limited to–work, academic instruction, campus activities and dining.

Members of the CU Boulder community who are regularly on campus are expected to complete a weekly monitoring test. Your assigned testing day is recommended in order to balance testing capacity throughout the week. If you are unable to complete a monitoring test on your assigned day, please complete your monitoring test another day that week.

Data from Buff Pass provides information that helps the Medical Services team identify possible outbreaks on campus. Knowing about potential cases in close to real-time will help inform steps that may be needed to curb the possible spread of COVID-19, such as testing, isolation or contact tracing. The Medical Services team will receive notification of Buff Pass submissions that have positive answers. 

Weekly, supervisors receive notifications that their employees have completed their Buff Pass, but it does not include answers to the questions. Supervisors can use these weekly email notifications to support their employees in meeting compliance with the  COVID-19 Health and Safety Policy.

The Herd Tracker page contains occupancy information for campus locations. Users can search for a specific on-campus location and click the location tile for a detailed view. Users can then filter by day of the week to see when locations are most and least visited.

If your supervisor is incorrect or not listed in the drop-down provided, and you are an employee, please reach out to your HR liaison to make sure your supervisor is correctly updated in the HR system. Possible reasons for these situations might include or be a combination of:

• You have multiple job appointments
• Your appointment status may not be active
• Your supervisor’s appointment may not be active
• You are a contractor or POI without a supervisor

Updates to the HCM (Human Capital Management) system information can take a day or two to reflect in the Buff Pass application.

If you are experiencing this issue, you should indicate that you are coming to campus to go to work. Once you are on campus, you can show the appropriate person your Buff Pass, or you can take a screenshot of it and email it to them if they wish to see it but are not there in person.

Select the two buildings where you will be spending the most time. You do not need to submit the form multiple times.

Each week, supervisors will receive a report listing their employees who have obtained a Buff Pass during the week. Student employees will also be included in the same weekly report. 

If you have student assistants that are not employees, you will need to ask them to view their Buff Pass or have them take a screen shot of it and email it to you if you need to see but are not there in person.

Supervisors who need to report an employee out of the office due to possible COVID-19 symptoms, confirmed illness or close contact with a probable case can click on the link under the Buff Pass menu to share information with the campus contact tracing team or contact Employee Relations for assistance.

There is currently a known issue when accessing Buff Pass on a desktop device. Once a user selects a secondary location, this cannot subsequently be changed. If a user accesses Buff Pass through a mobile device, they are able to indicate their secondary location or change it so that it matches the primary location.

An update to address this known issue is in development.

Buff Pass is optimized for Safari (on iOS) and Chrome. These internet browsers will provide the best user experience. For a list of recommended and supported browsers, software and hardware, visit OIT’s Supported Software and Hardware List. Internet Explorer is not supported.

Visit the Protect Our Herd website for the most up-to-date information on testing and contact tracing.