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By Lucas Thomae and Owen Sizemore
With the spring semester ready to get underway, NC College Beat is taking a look at how some of the major schools across the state are approaching students’ return to campus. Some institutions have completely overhauled their COVID-19 protocols with extensive testing programs, while others are maintaining the status quo.
Terms to Know Entry Testing/Prior-to-Arrival Testing: A policy that requires students to get tested for COVID-19, either on-campus or at another healthcare provider, prior to moving on campus. Surveillance Testing/Mitigation Testing: A testing strategy that involves selecting random samples of on-campus students and testing them for COVID-19, regardless of whether or not these students have any symptoms of the virus. Typically, if a positive result is found, more testing will take place among the residence hall where it was found. Wastewater Testing: A testing strategy that involves testing wastewater samples from residence halls to find traces of COVID-19. If COVID-19 is found, the students of the residence hall will undergo further testing, whether symptomatic or not. UNC Chapel Hill Move-in: Jan. 13 First Day of Classes: Jan. 19 First Day of In-Person Classes: Feb. 8 After students were forced off campus just 3 weeks after move-in last fall, UNC is strengthening its COVID-19 protocols for the spring. All students living on campus or in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to arrival. Students living on campus will be regularly tested twice a week, while students living in off-campus housing will be tested once weekly. In addition, all residence halls will only have single-occupancy dorms. NC State University Move-in: Jan. 16-18 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 19 NC State also sent on-campus students back home after a spike of COVID-19 cases early into the fall semester. Similar to UNC Chapel Hill’s spring plans, NC State will require prior-to-arrival testing and dorms will be single-occupancy. All students living on campus will be subject to weekly surveillance testing. UNC Charlotte Move-in: Feb. 18-21 unless granted an exemption First Day of Classes: Jan. 20 First Day of In-Person Classes: Feb. 22 Following a conservative and relatively successful fall semester with limited in-person instruction and a delayed move-in, UNC Charlotte informed students of a modified spring schedule on Jan. 11. Charlotte will conduct random group mitigation testing on a weekly basis for two phases of students. The first, Phase 1, includes students with an early-move in exemption and students with a meal plan; their mitigation testing will begin in January. Phase 2 students, which includes all other students making a return to campus to live, take classes, or work, will begin their testing once in-person instruction resumes. The university is also continuing its policy of single-occupancy housing and wastewater testing across all of its residence halls. UNC Wilmington Move-in: Jan. 15, 16, 19 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 20 After cases started to rise last fall, UNC Wilmington moved to de-densify their campus by shifting to single occupancy rooms. This semester, dorms are not single-occupancy but prior-to-arrival testing is required. Once on campus, there will be weekly surveillance testing and wastewater testing. Students will wear wristbands as proof of their negative tests.
East Carolina
Move-in: Jan. 14 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 19 ECU had one of the highest COVID-19 case counts of any institution in the country last semester. To avoid another disaster, ECU is implementing new measures this spring, most notably tri-weekly wastewater testing In addition, the school is requiring prior-to-arrival testing and dorm rooms will be single occupancy. Appalachian State University Move-in: Jan. 28-31 First Day of Classes: Jan. 19 First Day of In-Person Classes: Feb. 1 Appalachian State’s approach to the spring 2021 semester is markedly different from that of the fall, with the university taking much more precaution than it did last term. Similar to UNC Charlotte, in-person living and instruction will take place several weeks after the first day of classes. Students living on campus are required to submit a negative COVID-19 test result before they move in, with periodic surveillance testing occurring throughout the semester. However, single-occupancy housing will not be implemented within the dorms. Western Carolina University Move-in: Feb. 6 First Day of Classes: Jan. 25 First Day of In-Person Classes: Feb. 18 WCU, like many other universities, is taking a much more proactive approach toward minimizing the risk of initial spikes and clusters on campus. They have elected to delay the start of on-campus living and instruction until Feb. 6 and 18, respectively. They will also require students to get tested for COVID-19 prior to move-in. NC A&T State University Move-in: Jan. 21 for new students, Jan. 22-24 for continuing students First Day of Classes (Including In-Person: Jan. 25) After a fall of relatively low case numbers, NC A&T is treating this semester relatively similar to the last. Dorm rooms will not be single occupancy, but each returning student was mailed a COVID-19 test to take and send back to the school before moving in. UNC Greensboro Move-in: Jan. 13-18 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 19 UNCG continues its moderate approach to COVID-19 following a quiet semester and overall low case numbers. Students were required to be tested prior to moving on campus, and surveillance testing will also be implemented throughout the semester. Duke University Move-in: Jan. 14-20 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 20 Duke was one of the few universities in North Carolina to engage in both entry and surveillance testing throughout their fall semester, and as such, their plans have not changed much. The only major difference between Duke’s fall and spring will be that Upperclassmen will also be living and learning on campus this semester, potentially presenting a new challenge for the university in terms of handling potential cases and clusters. Wake Forest University Move-in: Jan. 23-26 First Day of Classes (Including In-Person): Jan. 27 Wake Forest’s spring plan falls in the middle of the pack in many ways: though their move-in and class start dates have changed, the school will continue a mix of in-person, hybrid and online courses come Jan. 27. Wake Forest utilized surveillance testing throughout the fall semester and will continue to do so in the spring. However, there has been no mention of entry testing for students returning to campus. ● The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
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1/19/2021
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