New Dorm Life
By Lisa Cipriano
Just as all of our lives have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, life in college residence halls will be more than a bit different for both new and returning students this fall.
Social distancing, wearing face masks and quarantining, concepts that were foreign to us less than six months ago, are now part of our daily lives and that will be no different in college dorms for the foreseeable future.
How will social distancing be done in such close living quarters? It’s already being done by students who live on campus year-round and will continue on a larger scale with the influx of new and returning students this fall.
It’s a challenge,” said Director of Residence Life at Central Michigan University, Kathleen Gardner. “In everything we’ve done, we’ve tried to follow guidelines put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College Health Association and we’ve worked in tandem with the university emergency management team,” she explained.
Michigan State University, the state’s largest university in terms of enrollment, is utilizing both government and its own world-renowned medical resources and expertise for guidance.
“We have worked really hard with our partners at the university physician’s office and the Ingham County Health Department as well as the CDC to make sure that we’re providing the safest experience possible for not just our students, but for our faculty and staff as well,” said Kat Cooper, Chief Communications Officer for Residential and Hospitality Services at Michigan State University.
In fact, MSU has the benefit of having a renowned, Harvard educated infectious disease researcher in its President, Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.
The University of Michigan is tapping into its own unique and world-renowned medical expertise and resources as well.
“We’re very fortunate at U of M to have outstanding public health expertise,” explained Senior Associate Director at University of Michigan’s Housing Administration, Amir Baghdadchi. “We’ve worked with the university chief health officer, the executive director of our university health service and we’ve had our doctors walking our residence halls, looking at floor plans and figuring out what makes sense here,” Baghdadchi said.
Overall, what the experts have found to make sense directly mirrors what the general public has been advised to do since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
At all three universities, each dorm room is considered a family unit. Masks are not required among dorm mates in shared sleeping areas. But in common areas, social distancing by six feet and mask wearing as not only essential, but mandatory.
“Students who are living together in a single room, that’s considered a single household unit. So, no physical distancing or facemasks are required. Outside of their rooms will be considered a public space where face masks will be required along with physical distancing, said Baghdadchi. We’re also asking students to quarantine for 14 days before arriving on campus,” he added.
Another overall recommendation from health experts is that residence hall occupancy be reduced, if possible, to help accommodate better physical distancing.
“Once students move in together, that becomes like your family. It’s the person that you live with. It’s not going to be someone that you’ll be able to be six feet from every moment of every day, but we want to be able to give students enough space so they don’t have to be up against each other all of the time. So, we took a handful of rooms in the north neighborhood and made those single occupancy rooms,” said Carson.
CMU has the ability to make residence hall occupancy management a major focus to help mitigate any potential spread of the virus and ease the minds of the concerned students and parents.
“In looking at the guidelines put out there by various associations, we need to reduce the amount of students in each living unit. It’s a bit tight, but we do have the space to be able to do that. We feel that’s important to offer that option to help address some of the concerns that our students and families have about returning to campus,” Gardner explained.
In accordance with ACHA guidelines, all three universities all have set aside separate residence halls to isolate, monitor and provide care for students who are feeling ill or test positive for the virus.
Reducing dorm room occupancy also reduces the amount of social interaction is common areas, like dining halls which are currently and will continue to operate at 50 percent capacity, like Michigan’s restaurants under Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order. They’re also offering students more ‘to go’ options to further help reduce dining hall occupancy.
All of these new procedures and requirements require students’ cooperation, and both new and returning students will be briefed on what to expect and consistently reminded of what’s expected of them this fall.
“We’re doing a lot of communication with them right now on how the fall will be different. We’re in the process of making some videos that will go out to students so that they can really see what fall will look like before they get here, so they can start to set those expectations,” said Carson.
Stressing a sense of responsibility and community is a major focus in the effort to keep students and faculty safe at U of M this fall.
“Every one of these students knows that reopening for the fall and a residential experience depends on shared responsibility. They already know exactly what’s at stake and why mask wearing and physical distancing are important. And, they’ll be plenty of signage around campus reminding them of that and what the expectations are,” Baghdadchi explained.
Despite the seemingly daunting situation ahead of them, through following the basic guidelines, adapting to a changing environment and stressing the importance of responsibility, the universities are optimistic about a successful year ahead.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge. But, I have full confidence that if we put all of our energy and intelligence behind this, we can have a great fall,” concluded Carson.