Moving away from home and into a tiny college dorm can be an exciting — but often stressful — experience for students. Now, in the middle of a global pandemic, this already stressful situation gets scarier for incoming freshmen.
The University of Oregon is currently preparing its residence halls to create a safe environment for incoming students. UO will implement new rules and guidelines, including increased sanitization and mask requirements, in compliance with the Oregon Health Authority and Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
Incoming students will still be required to live on campus, as the live-on requirement is still in place. According to the UO housing website, living on campus can lead to higher GPAs, staying in school and graduating faster.
“The live-on requirement continues to be in place because there’s a lot of success that students get from living in the residence halls,” Michael Griffel, the director of housing at UO, said.
While on-campus living is still required for first-year students, exemption forms are available for students who are not comfortable living on campus, Griffel said.
Guidance from state health officials states that no more than two students may share a residential dorm room. The dorm room must also have 64 square-feet per student. Triple rooms may still be used, but can only house up to two students.
Increased cleaning and sanitation efforts will also occur in the residence halls. Custodial staff will sanitize community spaces, such as bathrooms and study rooms, daily, and UO will also provide cleaning supplies for students to sanitize these spaces themselves, according to Griffel.
“We will have EPA-registered disinfectants available in so many locations so that, in addition to the professional cleaning, people will have these disinfectants and microfiber cloths or paper towels so they can also disinfect their space,” Griffel said.
Just like all other UO buildings, the university will require masks in all residence halls until a student is in their own room, Griffel said.
Dining services will be open and available but will mostly function as to-go options, according to Griffel. Carson will no longer be self-serve, but all dining halls will remain open under Lane County Public Health and OHA guidance, he said.
In the event of a student in the residence halls testing positive for COVID-19 or becoming exposed to the virus, UO will remove that student from their residence hall and place them in isolation or quarantine.
The university has set aside multiple buildings as isolation or quarantine areas, Riley Hall being one of them. There are between 200 and 220 isolation spaces so far, with more spaces available if needed, Griffel said.
UO will deliver meals to students relocated to isolation spaces and will not allow them to leave their room without guidance from University Health Services, Griffel said. Students can be cleared to return to their dorm room through University Health Services, in consultation with LCPH.
The UO case management team is responsible for contact tracing and providing guidance to students who have been exposed. The team is made up of public health employees and other experts who also work along with Lane County Public Health, according to an Around the O article.
“The chances of there being cases certainly are present,” Griffel said. “So if there are cases, it’s to isolate folks, it’s to do really strong contact tracing to contain it and to care for folks.”
