Q&A Series: Students Allowed to Use Common Spaces, Visit Friends’ Rooms, etc. While Following Guidelines

In a live WebEx Q&A session with the Office of Housing and Residential Life this afternoon, students asked questions pertaining to all aspects of housing for the fall semester, including student personal travel, the use of common spaces, protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and more.

Host Melissa Lulay McGregor, assistant director of First Year Programs, moderated the session with John Cordella and Joseph Guardino, assistant directors of Housing and Residential Life, and Sarah English, director of Housing and Residential Life.

One of the major questions raised by students was whether or not they are allowed to travel home on weekends. Guardino said yes, students are allowed to travel home, but ‘the college is strongly encouraging our residential student population to restrict travel off campus … they can travel home, [but] it is just encouraged that they stay on campus as much as possible.”

While students are on campus, there are various new measures in place to facilitate social distancing and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Face masks are required in any and all public spaces. When students are in any common area, including walking around campus, they will be expected to wear masks. The only time masks are not required is when the student is in their own living space.

“Our expectation is the students will be wearing face masks outside of their apartment. If they are in their apartments [with their housemates] or their particular bedroom, they are considered a ‘family unit’ and do not have to wear a mask,” English said. “But once [you] step out of [your] front door, you need to have your mask.” This applies to common lounge areas inside residence halls and academic buildings, as well as in other students' living spaces.

In general, students will only be permitted to enter the residence hall that they live in. Student IDs will be coded to only allow students to enter their own residence hall, and any student who is not a resident will be denied access — this applies primarily to students in the freshman halls and New Gartland Apartments, as the townhouses on campus are entered with key access.

The Office of Housing and Residential life will also permit students to enter apartments and dorm rooms that aren’t their own (i.e. visiting their friends, etc.), as long as those rooms are within their own residence hall. If students wish to visit with friends from other residence halls, they must do so outside or in common spaces like the Student Center, Dining Hall, etc. 

The common spaces in all buildings will be open for student use, but will be modified to accommodate social distancing guidelines. For returning students, these spaces may look slightly different; furniture will be spaced out and furniture that cannot adhere to distancing guidelines will be removed. Students will still, however, have access to these places to study and visit with friends. 

For students living in spaces with shared bathrooms, specifically the freshman residence halls, safety precautions have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these areas. For example, all faucets will be touchless, similar to the motion-activated ones utilized in many public restrooms. Plexiglass barriers have also been added to the dividers between shower stalls to prevent air flow across stalls, and the air-powered hand dryers have been replaced by paper towels so air is not being blown around the bathrooms. 

The Office of Housing and Residential Life also provided further information regarding students living in the newly acquired Conklin Hall, located about two miles from campus. Students living in Conklin will have access to a shuttle service seven days a week that will take them from campus to their residence hall. The shuttle will run daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and on an abbreviated schedule on Sundays. 

Drop-off and move-in procedures were also discussed during the Q&A. All information was also addressed in the Move-In Q&A on Monday night, and can be found here.

If students still have questions, they are encouraged to reach out to fallreopening@marist.edu, or call the Reopening Hotline at 845-575-4100. If students have specific questions about their individual rooming assignments, they should reach out to  housing@marist.edu.

Source: Sydney Kysar