Big changes coming to college campuses
Getting into a college dormitory this year is going to be a drawn-out process.
Both Slippery Rock University and Grove City College are dropping the traditional move-in day for an expanded period of getting students settled.
“We are not doing a move-in day, we are doing a move-in week beginning Aug. 10 and classes begin Aug. 17,” said David Wilmes, the chief student affairs officer at Slippery Rock University.
Move in day will include Sunday, Aug. 16.
“Usually we just have one big move-in day,” Wilmes said.
Jonathan DiBenedetto, director of residence life at Grove City College, said the college was also spreading out the move-in period, with freshmen slated to move in Aug. 19 and 20 and upperclassmen arriving Aug. 20 to 23.
'Stop, drop and go'
Both Grove City and Slipper Rock ares limiting the number of people who can move in each hour and each day.“We're still trying to work out the details,” said DiBenedetto. He said if there are 25 people living on a dormitory floor, students will be allowed in increments of five at a time.“We're adopting a 'stop, drop and go' approach to moving in,” DiBenedetto said. “Parents are encouraged to drop their student off and leave. There won't be any parent orientation events this year.”Wilmes said each SRU student will be given a two-hour window on a specific day. Student volunteers who, in the past, helped freshmen move into the dorms have been eliminated this year to cut down on chances of infection.SRU staff will do extra cleaning during the move-in, too, cleaning the carts used for moves before turning them over to the next users.SRU President Bill Behre announced July 28 that the number of in-person classes was being limited to 20 percent of the total offered.As SRU announced it was reducing the number of face-to-face classes, he said the university has reduced the number of students in its on-campus housing from 2,800 to 1,600. That number is expected to continue to drop as students decide whether or not to return to campus or take classes remotely.DiBenedetto said up to 97 percent of Grove City's 2,000 students live in on-campus housing and the college will be spreading them out as much as possible.More changesThere will be other changes in the dormitories.“We've removed a lot of furniture from the lounges to keep people six feet or more apart,” Wilmes said. “We are requiring masks unless they are in their own dorm room.“And we are limiting the number of events we have in the dorms — floor meetings, social events — to keep interaction down,” he said.DiBenedetto said Grove City intends to require students to wear masks when they are outside of their dorm room as much as possible.“Students should be prepared to wear masks most of the time they are here,” DiBenedetto said.A freshmen away from home for the first time, stuck alone in a dormitory room with no place to hang out with dorm mates and no way to meet them sounds pretty bleak. But Wilmes said the dormitory staff will work to have incoming students make connections and friends.“We are going to try to do more virtual programming as opposed to in-person programming,” he said. “Maybe they would do games online with one another instead of doing floor meetings in person.”No outside guestsAnother COVID-19 wrinkle is SRU will not allow outside guests into the dorms.“We have desks staffed 24/7 in every building,” he said. “All guests have to be checked in.”If they can show they live on campus they can pass, he said. If not, they can't get past the entryway.Wilmes said SRU is trying to cut down on chances that a person coming from a COVID-19 hot spot could infect a whole dormitory.“This is going to be the new norm. But after a couple of weeks at school, students will settle into it sooner or later,” DiBenedetto said.
