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The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor is canceling undergraduate student housing contracts for the winter semester starting Jan. 19 and urging undergraduates who do not need to need to come to campus to stay at their permanent addresses to reduce density in the residence halls.
“We know that asking students to leave their residence halls in the middle of the year is disappointing and disruptive, and we apologize for that,” Martino Harmon, the vice president for student life, said in an internal university news publication. “The community created within a residence hall is an important part of the college experience, but safety has to come first.”
Undergraduates who need to remain on campus can request housing based on health, wellness or safety concerns, financial needs, academic needs, or other extenuating circumstances. International students can also request housing on campus.
In addition to reducing the number of undergraduates on campus, Michigan is also increasing the number of remote course offerings; starting mandatory weekly testing for undergraduates living, learning, working or doing research on the Ann Arbor campus; and planning for “major increases in asymptomatic testing for all members of the campus community.”
Michigan’s administration has come under heavy criticism from professors and students for its pandemic response and testing protocols this fall. On Oct. 20, the Washtenaw County Health Department ordered Michigan undergraduate students to stay at home for two weeks after seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases connected to the university. The order expired Nov. 3.
Michigan reports 2,270 cumulative cases since March 8, including 333 in the last 14 days. Student case numbers have steadily dropped since Oct. 21, after the stay-at-home order went into effect.
Utah government officials want to require weekly COVID testing for all college students in the state, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
A mandate to this effect is expected to be announced early this week. The measure would affect more than 230,000 students statewide.
Sacred Heart University, a Roman Catholic institution in Connecticut, is moving the majority of its classes online through the end of the semester and canceling or suspending most other activities for at least two weeks due to a spike in cases.
The university also said it would enforce a curfew recommended by Connecticut’s Department of Public Health. Residential students must be on the campus by 9:30 p.m., and nonresidential students must be in their homes by 10 p.m.
Sacred Heart is offering COVID-19 exit testing for students who choose to travel home for the remainder of the semester.
“We are disappointed to go to remote learning so close to the finish line, but the health and safety of our community takes priority, and the spiking numbers necessitate this move,” the university’s coronavirus planning team said in message.
Another Connecticut university, Fairfield University, is transitioning most nonacademic activities to virtual for two weeks and instating an 11 p.m. curfew for students in response to increasing coronavirus cases.
Fairfield is “strongly discouraging” residential students from leaving campus and has suspended its off-campus shuttle service. The Jesuit university also said students living off campus would be restricted from entering campus for two weeks and that off-campus students would switch to remote learning.
Wells College, a liberal arts college in New York, will extend its pause of in-person classes and activities for an additional week, through Sunday, Nov. 15, after identifying six positive cases on campus. The college initially switched to remote classes and activities on Nov. 3.
"Overnight we received more testing results and have learned of four additional positive COVID-19 cases on campus, in addition to the two cases we have previously reported," President Jonathan Gibralter wrote in a message to students, faculty and staff members on Friday. "As of this writing, there are now six individuals in isolation. Contact tracing efforts have been underway since last night, and we have identified 12 other individuals who are in the process of being moved to precautionary quarantine."
The University of Maine has identified 10 COVID cases among facilities management employees and plans to test all 240 facilities management employees, including 80 custodial staff, to identify and isolate any other potential cases.
Maine is also adopting a limited-staffing continuity of operations plan focused on reducing the number of facilities management employees on campus while still maintaining essential functions. Staff asked not to report to campus will continue to be paid.
The university said the 10 affected employees are isolating in their homes and there have been no hospitalizations. All but one of the affected employees work in administrative roles.
Two small Midwestern colleges are cutting their football seasons short.
Peru State College, a public college in Nebraska, is suspending the remainder of its football season after having postponed six games due to COVID.
“Under pressure from a combination of factors including necessary quarantines related to COVID-19, the Bobcats have played three games this season and do not foresee a path back to the field this fall,” the college said in a press release.
Peru State is a member of the Heart of America conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, an athletic association made up of small colleges.
Another member of the Heart of America conference, Clarke University, a Catholic university in Iowa, also said it would cut the season short after several postponed games would otherwise force an extension of the season past Thanksgiving, when the university plans to shift to remote operations. The Clarke football team finishes the season with two wins and three defeats.
"With several postponed games during the season, we have run out of dates to complete the conference schedule without having to play into December," said Clarke's athletic director, Curt Long. "Currently, we have students coming out of quarantine, and with the rising number of COVID cases in our city, we want to provide as much safety as possible."
Lourdes University, a Catholic university in Ohio, on Friday announced it was canceling Homecoming and suspending all athletic competitions due to an increase in COVID cases. The university reported 20 active cases among students for the week of Oct. 31 to Nov. 6.
The State University of New York has announced plans for next semester across its 64 campuses, delaying the start date for in-person instruction to Feb. 1 and canceling spring break.
The university will require all students to be tested for COVID upon their return and plans to continue surveillance testing of students next spring. Masks will be mandatory in classrooms and public spaces.
SUNY is also requiring all students using campus facilities be tested within 10 days before departing for Thanksgiving.
