By Nicole DeJacimo, Content Manager
New details about dining, move-in, testing, and orientation COVID-19 Education were sent out earlier today in an email from Associate Dean of College Life, Keira S. Kant ’95, and Director of Residential & First-Year Programs, Danielle Phillips.
Dining
As the pandemic continues to progress, Dining Services will be prepared to make changes throughout the semester to provide its “long-standing, award-winning dining services even in the midst of the pandemic,” according to the campus-wide email. All dining details for the semester are listed here.
When students first arrive, as previously announced, the College will test everyone and require a forty-eight-hour quarantining period. During these two days, students can pick up prepackaged meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in two grab-and-go locations. One is a tent on the patio of the College Union Building (CUB), and another in the Atrium, located on the north end of the Servo building, near the Jaeger Center. In the Atrium, all students will need to wear masks and adhere to a physical distancing of six feet.
Once students receive a negative COVID-19 test result, they can pick up their meals at Servo or the Bullet Hole to reduce density at the grab-and-go locations. If a student does test positive, dining services will deliver meals to the student’s isolation room.
As for the rest of dining, the college has made extensive changes to minimize high touch surfaces, maintain social distancing, and increase sanitation and “an intensive sanitizing schedule” as noted on the Dining Services during COVID-19 page. Seating in Servo and Bullet was reduced by 75% capacity and the college urges students against moving pre-distanced chairs. All areas that were previously self-service, such as the salad bars, the rice and vegetarian pots, and the fruit bars will now have servers. Students must wear a mask in all dining areas unless they are eating.
Move-In and Testing
Everyone will be assigned a three-hour window for move-in, sometime between 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM. Approximately 500 students will be arriving every day. First-Year and transfer students will move in on Tuesday, August 11, and Wednesday, August 12. Upperclass students will move in between Monday, August 10, and Friday, August 15. All students must get tested, even if they live in off-campus housing, and do not have to pick up a key. Students who are commuting will also be tested.
While students are waiting for test results, the college has asked everyone to quarantine in their dorm rooms, and students will only be permitted to leave to use the bathrooms or receive their meals. When students do leave their room they must wear masks.
Once students are assigned their move-in and testing times, they have until Friday, July 31 at noon to complete this form if they wish to petition for a different time or date. Details are listed here.
Orientation
At the moment, the Office of Residential and First-Year Programs still plans to hold orientation, but it will be altered to adhere to the guidelines set by the state of Pennsylvania and Gettysburg College. First-year and transfer students will have a series of programs under the “Living in Our Community” series that will “introduce new students to Gettysburg’s values and expectations of joining this community.” These will take place on August 15 and 16 in small groups.
COVID-19 Education
To ensure that the Gettysburg College community is prepared for new protocols this fall, every student is now enrolled in a COVID-19 course, found here. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Finally, the deadline for students to complete the online forms through the student’s medical Medicat portal has been extended to August 29 due to a delay in communication from the college.
