St. Joe’s held the webinar series Hawk Hill Ready from Aug. 11-13, to inform students and parents about the university’s plans for reopening campus for the fall 2020 semester.
Karen Pellegrino, vice president of Enrollment Management, gave an introduction during the student session held on Aug. 12.
“We want you back as much as you want to be back,” Pellegrino said. “Over the course of the last three months we have been meeting regularly about bringing students back.”
Alongside Pellegrino, speakers discussed university plans for housing, athletics, student events, classes and safety.
Housing plans
In order to keep students safe in on-campus housing, Jessica Moran-Buckridge, Ed.D., director of Residence Life, said all guests are suspended from residence halls. Residence halls will be professionally cleaned twice a day, with all common areas and stairwells cleaned up to four times each day.
Moran-Buckridge also said masks should be worn in all locations, except in students’ primary residence bedrooms but including apartments with shared bathrooms.
Classroom and curriculum plans
In the classroom, similar cleaning procedures and social distancing guidelines are being implemented. Timothy Higgins, director of the Advising Support Center for the Haub School of Business, said classroom spaces must have at least six feet of distance between all occupants and either five people per 1,000 square feet, less than 25% of the maximum classroom capacity or a maximum of 25 students per class.
“In Mandeville, for example, there are markers to show where students can and cannot sit,” Higgins said. “There are cleaning procedures students required to adhere to, including cleaning your assigned seats before and after class.”
General health plans
Moran-Buckridge said while St. Joe’s will not immediately contact parents or guardians if a student has symptoms of COVID-19, students are encouraged to contact parents themselves.
“Anytime a student has symptoms on or off campus, they should be directed to public safety,” Moran-Buckridge said. “We have a response process depending on what time of day it is, whether it’s a weekday or a weekend, and public safety in addition to other campus responders.”
Pellegrino said, along with the many campus-wide plans being implemented in the fall, wearing a mask is a crucial way to mitigate the spread of the virus.
“The most important thing we’re asking all of our students to do is to wear a face covering,” Pellegrino said. “It’s the most important thing we can do to stop the virus and keep us all in this community for as long as we can.”
