MASCUP! Mask Policy Adherence in Tatum Arts Center on Hood College’s Campus

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate mask adherence in Hood College’s Tatum Arts Center. Across the United States, other colleges participated in concurrent studies to evaluate the overall effectiveness of mask use in higher education. Without proper infection prevention strategies, such as mask use, Covid-19 could have greatly impacted the feasibility of in-person higher education. Student researchers across campus recorded if individuals were wearing a mask, what type of mask, and if they were wearing it correctly. The target population of this research was college campus community members. In Tatum Arts Center, researchers systematically sampled 395 participants to observe in this observational cohort study. The goal of the research was to investigate what type of face mask was worn incorrectly most often. The researcher hypothesized that the results would show that cloth face masks were worn incorrectly most often. The three pieces of data were collected on every third individual who exited Tatum Arts Center, and the data was evaluated using Excel. The results found that there was 100% mask usage in Tatum Arts Center, and masks were worn correctly 93.16% of the time. The results revealed that surgical masks were worn incorrectly the most often, 12.94% of the time. This research helped colleges to evaluate the effectiveness of their Covid-19 mitigation plan, with the hope that it would lessen the spread of Covid-19. It is believed that these results can be generalized to other colleges of similar size.