Elise McLendon, a junior studying kinesiology moved into a single room in Humphreys Hall earlier this month. She moved in early for sorority work week and recruitment. She said the experience was definitely different than past years as masks and social distancing became the norm due to the global pandemic.
“They only let us have two people help us [with move-in] instead of the unlimited amount of people, so only my parents were able to move me in instead of my siblings as well,” she said. “We also had to wear masks this move in.”
Housing moved more than 5,000 students on campus in August. Most were freshman, but more than 1,000 were upperclassman and transfer students.
McLendon says she had been wanting to try the single room style out and enjoys it so far. The extra space of a single room along with the convenience of living on campus is appealing to returning students looking for living arrangements for the school year.
Housing took several actions this fall to ensure the safety of students arriving on campus. Additional move-in dates and times were added to limit the number of students and parents at each residence hall at any one time. Everyone on campus is required to wear a mask and that held true during the move-in process.
Housing has invested heavily in additional staffing, and more than one million dollars, to increase cleaning measures during the afternoons and weekends. These new cleaning protocols include enhanced disinfection for high-touch areas in the facilities, such as doorknobs, handles, tables, handrails and more.
Along with these extra cleaning precautions, housing is restricting visitor access to residence halls. Visitation started on Tuesday, September 1, and is limited to other university students or immediate family members. And just like for everyone and everywhere on campus, face covers are required.
Students moving into University-managed Greek housing also faced a different move-in experience this semester. Along with wearing face coverings in any public areas, additional cleaning measures are also in place in these houses.
Molly Murray, a sophomore studying psychology moved into the Delta Gamma sorority house a week before her original move-in date to space out times among members. Sorority houses are not managed by Housing.
“We all needed to wear our masks when I moved in and still have to wear them everywhere but our rooms,” she said. “Obviously we can take it off to shower, brush our teeth, eat, etc.”
While living with two other roommates, she says she feels safe as they are both very careful.
Health kits with personal protection items including two cloth face masks, five disposable masks, hand sanitizer, and a thermometer were distributed to all students by the first week of classes.
Check the web site or more information and any updates regarding University Housing and COVID-19.
