More than 3,000 students will move into campus housing in the coming days and weeks at area colleges.
Those students will be faced with a new reality, and a set of precautions and restrictions put in place by school officials to try and curb COVID-19 at a time when other colleges, such as University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University, have chosen — days into the semester — to move classes online due to widespread campus outbreaks.
Students at the University of Indianapolis, on the city’s southside, began moving in Tuesday, while Franklin College students will begin to move in Aug. 27.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryAt Franklin College, where about 620 of the 960 undergraduates are expected to reside this semester, adjustments include wearing masks in residence halls when students are not in their dorms, and spreading furniture apart in rooms with more than one student. The college will also limit each resident to two helpers during move-in, and students, as well as anyone who helps them move in, will be required to wear masks, said Andrew Jones, the college’s dean of students and vice president for student development.
“We’re looking at it like these are people students are living with on campus. It’s the same now as during the summer when they were roommates with their families,” Jones said. “In terms of mitigation within the rooms, all you can really do is move furniture to maintain distance. We’re also asking new and returning students to notify us if they have concerns about their health, such as medical conditions, or if they’re at risk for COVID-19 based on CDC health factors that would put them in that category.”
The college received only a handful of requests, and was able to put those students in single-occupancy rooms, Jones said.
The college is also relaxing its requirement that students live on campus if their permanent residence is more than 35 minutes away. Students with medical conditions or anxiety about COVID-19 will be allowed to commute from home, regardless of distance, he said.
If a resident in a double-occupancy room tests positive for COVID-19, their roommate will also be required to quarantine for 14 days. The college has designated isolation areas for students to quarantine if they need to stay on campus during that two-week period, Jones said.
Residents are not allowed to use kitchens, and most lounges will be off limits as well. Students are expected to pick up food from the cafeteria, he said.
The college released a 21-page document earlier this month detailing how the school plans to have its students — resident or not — safely return to campus. Classes start Aug. 31.
Masks will be a large part of campus life this year. Under the college’s guidelines, students and faculty members will be required to wear a mask more often than not.
As students, faculty and staff travel through buildings, sit in classrooms or gather in groups, masks will be required. Any situation where people cannot socially distance will necessitate face coverings.
Certain situations will not call for masks, though. People on campus can take their masks off if they’re outside and at least six feet away from others, or inside an office or room that isn’t shared with anyone else, for example. If people are eating or drinking, inside a residential room or Greek-house bedroom, exercising and six feet away from others or if they have a medical exemption, they can go without masks, according to the guidelines released by the college.
To try and limit the spread of COVID-19, the college is also asking students and faculty to meet virtually whenever possible, or to meet in a non-office space to allow for social distancing when the virtual method isn’t practical.
In advance of students returning, 24 sanitation stations with disinfectant and face masks have been set up throughout campus in locations such as Old Main, the Science Center, B.F. Hamilton Library and Napolitan Student Center.
Staff members at the college have organized classrooms to allow for social distancing. Students will have the same lab partners throughout the semester, and are required to sanitize equipment and wear masks and gloves during lab, according to the guidelines.
Franklin College canceled study abroad trips for the summer, fall and winter terms, and students and staff members have to follow local, state and national guidelines when they travel for other activities.
Common areas will be marked to try and increase spacing between people. Elevators will have capacity signs and stairwells will have directional arrows to separate traffic between people going upstairs and downstairs.
Protocols have been laid out for students who experience symptoms of COVID-19, and who to inform if they exhibit those symptoms. During business hours, students are required to report symptoms to the campus nurse and dean of students. After hours, students are required to report symptoms to a residence assistant or residence hall director, according to the guidelines.
University of Indianapolis will move students to a nearby hotel and give them meal service at no additional cost if they have to quarantine, said Kory Vitangeli, the college’s dean of students and vice president for student and campus affairs.
The university is also screening students for symptoms and rapid testing students who have symptoms, Vitangeli said. It takes about 30 minutes to get results back.
“We have symptom screening, and we have a university app that people can use to input their symptoms,” Vitangeli said.
Testing is available on campus through the college’s health and wellness center at no cost to students, she said.
About 800 of the college’s estimated 2,200 residents live in double-occupancy rooms, and as is the case with Franklin College, roommates of students who test positive would be required to quarantine as well, Vitangeli said.
Also similar to Franklin College’s policies, students at the University of Indianapolis are moving in during reserved times to decrease crowding in residence halls, she said.
Furniture at University of Indianapolis residence halls has been rearranged to allow for social distancing. In common areas, for example, the majority of furniture has been removed to keep students at least six feet apart. Additionally, only one student is allowed to use the kitchen at a time.
