Recent Program Features

As we prepare for the long holiday weekend, we want to let all faculty and staff know that implementation of the Pandemic Preparedness Plan will officially begin for those individuals who have been working on campus when you return to work on Monday, July 6. The expectation is that everyone on campus, including faculty, staff, students and visitors, will follow the plan’s strong recommendation to wear masks or face coverings starting on Monday.

In other news related to Return to Learn:

• IT Solutions is setting up a FlexSync demo room that will be available for scheduled tours; more information, as well as additional training materials about FlexSync, will be available in the coming weeks.
• We are establishing the processes and procedures that will be part of the COVID-19 notification plan, as well as a COVID-19 hotline. More information should be available next week.
• The final details of a Return to Work plan are being worked on as well; we will share that plan in this space soon as well. 

We recognize that you may have questions that have not yet been answered and encourage you to submit them here. We will do our best to get back to you with answers as soon as possible.

Dear Student,

Residential Life is developing plans to welcome students to our residence halls with added safety precautions to set you up for success. Your safety is our top priority and we are working closely with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The University is also implementing strategies to reduce transmission opportunities, reduce outbreaks, and reduce risk to vulnerable populations.

Strategies that we are implementing in the residence halls include:

• Providing face masks to all members of the University community.
• Requiring students to track symptoms daily and stay in your room if sick.
• Encouraging frequent and effective hand-washing.
• Making adjustments in our occupancy to reduce density.
• Rigorous sanitizing and disinfecting procedures that follow CDC and MDH guidelines.
• Touchpoints in shared spaces are being minimized and physical distancing promoted by reduced seating.
• Providing hand sanitizer stations.
• Plexi shields will be used in service areas where face-to-face interactions frequently take place, such as front desk operations.
• It is necessary for residents to be mindful of their personal behaviors and accept responsibility for doing their part to keep themselves, their roommate, and others safe.

Semi-private sinks

Each residence hall room contains a sink within the room. This allows students to brush their teeth and perform a variety of personal hygiene activities at a semi-private fixture. Students will create a sink-cleaning plan with their respective roommate/apartment mates.

Room Assignments

Single and double rooms are offered; triple rooms are not. Stadium Heights Apartments are limited to 3 residents per apartment, all in private bedrooms. Single rooms in our apartments are called “Single in 3-Person Apartment” and “Double-Room-as-a-Single in Apartment.” Amenities and pricing information is located at this link.

Community Bathrooms

Community bathrooms are located in Crawford, McElroy, and Preska I Halls. These locations will be cleaned & sanitized each morning and sanitized each afternoon.

Phased Move-In Plan

We are establishing a carefully organized move-in process spread out over several days to follow public safety health guidelines. Students will sign-up for a specific arrival timeslot to allow for optimal physical distancing and reduced density.

Dining Services

All dining locations will be open in the fall. Each location will have physical distance indicators to maintain appropriate spacing. Dining Services is working closely with MDH to ensure compliance with dining capacity set forth by the Governor. Alternative seating solutions throughout campus are being explored for students who wish to take a meal to-go when the dining center reaches capacity. Dining employees and customers will wear masks inside dining locations, except when eating or drinking.

COVID Illnesses

While we have a strong prevention plan in place, we understand that students will occasionally let their guard down and may become infected with COVID-19. The University, in coordination with MDH, has created an on-campus COVID hotline to assist in managing cases and notifying contacts of people who are ill. Residence hall students who report that they have tested positive for COVID-19 will be directed to go into Isolation. Isolation spaces have been set aside on campus, or a student may choose to isolate at their permanent address.

We understand that these are uncertain and challenging times. We encourage you to reach out to us if you have additional questions. Please stay safe and healthy.

Good morning,

Last week, we finalized our official procedures for notification when a student, employee or visitor to campus tests positive for the virus. The processes for all employees can be found at the Return to Learn website here. I encourage you to read through that information and become familiar with it.

It’s critical to note that individual privacy is a priority; no one is required or compelled to notify the University about a positive test. However, we hope that individuals will choose to notify us so that we can take the appropriate steps. Because COVID-19 is a public health issue, information is shared on a need-to-know basis. We will follow guidance from the Minnesota Department of Health in the event others need to be notified of a suspected or positive COVID-19 test result.

Please remember that each individual’s health status is a private matter, and no one should publicly declare someone else as sick. This includes NOT notifying classes, office colleagues, student clubs, teams, etc. unless there is specific guidance to do so. Supervisors and instructors do have the right to ask an employee or student to go home if COVID symptoms are present.

In other news related to Return to Learn:

• Q & A on ICE Guidance

The recent guidance from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about international students and instructional modes for fall has led to a lot of questions. The Global Education team hosted a question and answer sessions for faculty and staff via Zoom today and has another scheduled for later this week. The date and time, as well as the link to the Zoom meeting, are below:

Friday, July 10, 2020

3 p.m.-4 p.m. https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/91357621652

As always, all faculty and staff are encouraged to submit any questions about Return to Learn here. We will do our best to get back to you with answers as soon as possible.