Date: February 15, 2021
From: Rick Culliton
Subject: Arrival Quarantine Update
Dear students,
As we begin the second week of classes and campus-wide quarantine, I want to thank you for your continued efforts at following quarantine protocols and COVID-19 safety precautions. We have been able to maintain positivity rates well below the levels predicted by our modeling despite the new variants of COVID in the U.S. Thanks to your cooperation, we are making modifications to the second week of quarantine for everyone who arrived by February 8 and has had two or more negative on-campus COVID tests. That said, it remains crucial that students continue to stay on campus through the end of quarantine (February 22). In those rare cases where a student needs to leave campus, that person must seek prior approval from the medical staff of Davison Health Center.
Starting today, February 15:
- Students are permitted to exercise and move about campus in groups of four or fewer as long as all COVID safety precautions and guidelines are followed.
- Students may gather in residence halls and program houses with those who share the same immediate living space. No more than two people may be in a bedroom at the same time, regardless of whether the room is a single or a double. Lounges will be open but will be limited to the posted COVID capacity or four students (whichever is lower) for the remainder of the campus-wide quarantine.
- Students needing a private space for virtual classes, CAPs appointments, or other private calls, may now reserve space via the Room Request (EMS) feature in your Wesportal or may use the residence hall lounge if available.
- Students living in wood frames and apartments where all residents have been on campus since February 8 are no longer required to wear masks in their Student visitors to houses and apartments are not permitted at this time.
- Students may now access Usdan for mailboxes and to-go dining. Usdan is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the weekends. Please continue to enter Usdan through the south entrance, which faces Andrus Field. WesStation is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and can be accessed through the Southeast doors of Usdan.
- Limited single seating is available in the Usdan Café and the first floor study lounges whenever Usdan is open. Masks must be worn.
- We anticipate that the library and fitness center will open on February 22 after the arrival quarantine ends.
- Please refer to the COVID-19 Dashboard for any further updates.
Students, who arrived after February 8 or have been in isolation or quarantine, should continue to follow specific directions that supersede these changes and apply specifically to you.
While we have reached a significant milestone, it is important that we continue to adhere to the safety precautions and guidelines that have proven effective. If we begin to see an increase in positivity rates, we will have to become more restrictive again. However, if our positivity rates continue to remain low, we will identify other ways to promote safe, social interactions campus.
Sincerely,
Rick Culliton
Dean of Students
Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee