ALISA OPPENHEIMER
News Editor
As students are beginning to settle back in, our campus community is still very much aware of the high chances that COVID may be able to take this semester away from us, as it has in the past.
While communication is often present from President Kolison and the Student Health Center recently via email, many students may still be in the dark when it comes to the majority of Fredonia’s updated plans and procedures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on our campus this semester.
What is to be expected?
One of the most significant changes, according to Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services, Dr. Cedric Howard, is the weekly testing of all students, faculty and staff who come to campus for any reason whatsoever.
Similarly to last semester, everyone will have to be tested on their scheduled date and will receive an email a few days in advance as a reminder.
Students can also refer to Fredonia’s weekly testing schedule to find out when they will be tested each week.
If anyone avoids this test for any reason, there are repercussions.
The only difference is that everyone is required to be tested every week, rather than sporadically throughout the semester.
“I know that this will be a challenge, but it is very important for the safety of our campus and for our ability to remain open,” said Kolison.
Another change for the semester regards visitation in the residence halls.
Fredonia is now allowing same-hall visitation.
This means that each resident will be allowed to have one guest (from that same hall) in their bedroom at any given time.
“Each roommate must sign an agreement indicating that they agree with allowing guests [from the same hall] in their bedroom,” said Howard.
“Suite rooms can have a max of eight students at any one time, but all students must be masked,” he said.
Besides testing and same hall visitation, all other precautions and protocol from Fall 2020 remain intact and have not changed for Spring 2021.
Classes for students are either remote, in-person with less than 50 students or are implementing a hybrid A/B schedule.
Many campus and other extracurricular activities will mostly take place via Zoom.
Kolison announced that he will continue his weekly communication regarding COVID updates with the campus community every Thursday evening.
As for the COVID-19 dashboard, it is still being updated daily to keep track of the number of cases on campus.
While students are getting more comfortable in their routines, it’s important to remain hyper-aware that things can change for Fredonia in an instant.
With that in mind, we must all be responsible and adhere to all safety guidelines in order to finish out with a great semester.
For more information regarding COVID-19 on our campus, students can utilize the following resources: