HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Juniata College will welcome students back to campus for the fall semester and has shared plans for COVID-19 testing protocols on campus.
Classes will begin Monday, Aug. 17, with all students, faculty, and staff to be tested for COVID-19 in order to safely repopulate campus. Incoming students will be assigned arrival times from Aug. 10-13 and returning students assigned arrival times from Aug. 14-16. Student-athletes may return earlier to begin official team activities.
“It is exciting as we anticipate gathering our community together,” said Matthew Damschroder, vice president for student life and dean of students. “We are focused on creating as safe an environment as possible, by using the best tools, knowledge, and public health guidance we have available to us, while remaining flexible and prepared to adapt as new information and technology becomes available.”
Arrival testing and ongoing testing will be coordinated with Contamination Source Identification (CSI), based near campus, using the company’s RT-QPCR test system.
Faculty members have utilized the hybrid-flexible model (HyFlex) to design course plans and syllabi to combine online and face-to-face instruction throughout the fall semester.
Students can expect to remain on campus and restrict recreational travel. They will also employ personal safety practices, such as wearing masks and contributing to enhanced cleaning protocols. The dining hall will adjust the timing of meals and assign dining times and tables to maintain hygiene protocols. Take-out meals will expand in scope and accessibility.
Students will have the same amount of instruction time as is typical. Along with the earlier start to the semester, residential instruction will end Tuesday, Nov. 24, and finals will be completed remotely from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4.
The pre-Thanksgiving end avoids the typical rise of the seasonal influenza virus, which can be confused symptomatically with COVID-19 as well as lowering the risk of transmission following the return to campus after many travel home for the holiday.
For more details concerning Juniata’s plans for the fall semester, visit https://www.juniata.edu/coronavirus/for-students/student-faqs.php.
Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.
SOURCE: Juniata College
