Colleges adjust dorm life in effort to keep students healthy

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Forget the salad bars and waffle buffets in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s student dining halls.

Prepare for your temperature to be taken - daily - in Creighton University residence halls.

And the three pals who wanted to live together in a large dorm room at UNL or Iowa State are going to have to leave one of the guys behind. The days of three students per dorm room are done, at least for now.

Colleges throughout the region have changed some of their residence and dining hall operating procedures to minimize the risk of a coronavirus breakout. Many college leaders say they want their campus to be open for business because most students would rather be on campus than taking classes by computer from home. But the Omaha World Herald reports that the pressure is on administrators to pull that off safely.

Morningside College President John Reynders said last week: “I think any college president that isn’t concerned about this fall is crazy.” Reynders said his college, in Sioux City, Iowa, will do just about everything possible to keep people healthy. “Am I worried and concerned? You bet.”

Megan Failor, Doane University’s director of residential life and education, said administrators this fall are bound to be concerned.

“It’s definitely going to be a unique year,” Failor said. “I think any time there are changes … that always causes some angst.”

Failor said Doane has designated its Colonial Hall residence facility as an isolation place for students with positive COVID-19 tests, symptoms or significant exposure to someone who has the disease.

At UNL, Piper Hall, which wasn’t used last year, will serve as an isolation residence hall for those who have tested positive for the coronavirus or show symptoms. Spokeswoman Leslie Reed said Piper is not a medical facility and those with serious symptoms will have to visit a clinic.

Creighton University will designate various private rooms and private bathrooms dotted through its dormitories for students in quarantine and isolation.

Three nurses will check in by phone with students in those rooms and will visit them wearing personal protective equipment if a student’s condition worsens, said Tanya Winegard, vice provost for student life.

Winegard said Creighton also will work with a local hotel to help handle quarantining and isolation if needed.

Some schools will require masks and temperature checks and others will recommend them. Most or all will provide additional cleaning of areas such as residence hall bathrooms.

Creighton wants at least daily mandatory temperature checks for students living on campus and those coming to school from off campus. Faculty members and staffers face the same expectation.

And like many schools, Creighton will have a smartphone app (Creighton’s is called #CampusClear) that will enable campus community members to screen and monitor their health.

Winegard said Creighton has set up about 15 screening stations (one each in nine residence halls) across campus where Creighton students and others will have their temperatures checked with heat-sensing infrared technology.

Union College, which already has started classes on its Lincoln campus, wants everyone entering buildings to answer some simple health-check questions and to have their temperatures taken.

UNL’s Reed also said that five residence halls have especially large rooms on the corners of each floor. But whereas in the past, three could fit into one of those rooms, only two will be allowed this school year. And no bunk beds will be allowed on campus, she said, so that roommates will stay an adequate distance from each other.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney for the first time has offered all students, including freshmen, the chance to live in a single room, with no roommate. UNK says that will improve physical distancing.

UNK spokesman Todd Gottula said 400 students typically get single rooms, but this semester close to 700 will live in them. Students will pay $300 a semester more to occupy a single room.

Move-in day this semester at many colleges will not be a “bring family, relatives, dogs and friends” affair. UNL, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Morningside and the University of Iowa, for example, will allow students to have only two people help them move in.

A survey this summer of 159 American universities found that about 85% are limiting guests on move-in day to two.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio-based Association of College & University Housing Officers-International said last week that the group suggests that colleges work closely with their local health departments for guidance in handling the situation, because areas have differing exposure to the virus.

CEO Mary DeNiro said through the spokeswoman: “We’re going to see how it goes. We’re going to see a lot of things in the next three of four weeks.”

Another phenomenon is the use of professional moving services by some colleges so halls and elevators aren’t packed with family members and students. UNL, for example, has hired the national company United and Student Services to provide the bulk of move-in.

And serve-yourself buffets in campus dining halls will largely be banished. Many colleges - UNL, Morningside, Union College and others - are adding “grab and go” options to their food service so students can quickly pick up a meal and take it back to their room.

Creighton’s Winegard said “worried” is not the word she would use to describe how the university is entering the semester. She preferred the word “vigilant” and said that is something everyone will have to be. She said: “It’s going to take our whole community.”