COVID-19 has continued to play a role all over campus this semester, and some students wonder if the spring semester will look the same in their residence halls. For students who reside on campus, these safety precautions are currently playing a significant role in their housing.
According to Mississippi University for Women’s website, the Campus Renewal Task Force began the semester by implementing a de-densification plan which limited the number of students on campus. This began by encouraging online students to live at home for the semester and offering free termination of their housing contracts. For students who needed to live on campus for classes, residence halls continued to remain open.
Since residence halls had to remain open during the pandemic, the university implemented new measures of safety for residents.
“Living on campus during COVID-19 was a bit strange. Of course, everyone was required to wear a mask while entering or exiting the building, and if they were not willing to comply, they got documented,” said Johanna Ericson, a junior Communication major at The W. “Everyone had their own room this semester, which was pretty nice, and another rule that was in place was only using the elevator to go up and using the stairs to go down.”
Andrew Moneymaker, director of Housing and Residence Life, said that this semester is different from prior semesters in residence halls. Students had individual rooms, but they might have shared a bathroom or kitchen area with a suitemate. Keeping a safe distance from each other in common areas was stressed. Hand sanitizer stations have also been placed at many entrances throughout these buildings. The buildings are disinfected once at least every 2 weeks with backpack sprayers. This allowed students to be housed in the same area as their peers with limited interaction.
Spring semester is coming soon, and Moneymaker said that it will, in fact, look a lot like this fall semester.
“It will still be the same as for the fall. They will still have to apply, but they would basically get a room to themselves, as well. We are just going to plug them into the spots that are leaving,” said Moneymaker. “We’ve got students graduating, transferring, going to internships, and some are appealing their spring contracts trying to go off campus. So, if they do that, it opens up that room, and over the break, we will have custodial staff come in and clean them.”
Although many students might like to see changes going into next semester, there is a strong confidence among staff in the continuance of safety on campus, as implemented by the The W’s Campus Renewal Plan. Until the pandemic is under control, the safety protocols implemented all over campus will likely stay in place.