KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Wednesday, Western Michigan University (WMU) discussed its plans for the upcoming fall semester with COVID-19 restrictions in place.
During a livestreamed Student Town Hall meeting, university officials discussed how classes will be held and what safety protocols will be in place for student health while the pandemic is ongoing.
“We’ve been on this roller coaster, and it’s a terrible roller coaster in terms of a set of events that none of us could have predicted and none of us wanted,” WMU President Dr. Edward Montgomery said. “Now we have a framework for the academic enterprise as well as for safety, and we’re ready to have this conversation about what we think the fall will look like.”
To begin with, students will be required to wear masks while in campus buildings, which was discussed by Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Diane Anderson.
“The expectation is that people do wear masks inside, and that will be all of us, faculty, staff and students,” Anderson said. “We are gonna be doing a very significant educational campaign about why we have that as an expectation, and we are really hopeful people will really be thinking about this from a perspective of not only taking care of yourself but of others, of all the Broncos in our community. We’re gonna encourage people to ask people to wear masks if they see them not wearing masks.”
Students who choose not to wear a mask on campus may face consequences.
“If in fact they’re not wearing masks and it continues to be an issue, students will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct, and faculty and staff will be handled via their typical discipline processes,” Anderson said. “Our hope really is to set that as an expectation and not having to spend all of our time enforcing, that we just build that as part of the Bronco ethos, that we are all interested in taking care of each other as ourselves.”
One violation can result in a warning and conversation, but students who refuse may see further disciplinary action.
Anderson added that those students who show up to class without a mask may be provided one or multiple on arrival.
“We are providing two masks for every student and asking everyone to wear them on campus,” Anderson said. “If for some reason someone does not have a mask, we will have plenty of disposable masks dispersed throughout campus.”
Questions were also raised about what will happen if there are any confirmed cases in students or faculty members, which were answered by Interim Medical Director Gayle Ruggiero.
“We’re gonna aid the Kalamazoo County Health Department in doing contact tracing, alerting people that there has been a positive so they can do increased hyper vigilance of self-symptom monitoring,” Ruggiero said. “If they’ve been in close contact and need isolation or testing, we have that available at Sindecuse. We’re basically gonna wrap our arms around what the situation is and make sure the people that need to be tested or isolated are doing so.”
Sick students who are forced to self-isolate may be placed in one of the smaller dormitory facilities of the campus, but it currently has not been decided which of the buildings would be used.
Additionally, Ruggiero said that testing is not going to be mandated at this time, based on recommendations from the American College Health Association and the CDC.
“The testing is a snapshot in time, so its whether or not you have been infected at that one particular juncture, it doesn’t necessarily tell if you’ll be exposed tomorrow,” Ruggiero said. “There can be some false senses of security with that, so that’s why we’ve made it optional at this point.”
Students with compromised immune system conditions will have options for online or hybrid classes are encouraged to keep an eye on their schedules and remain in contact with their instructors to make specific accommodations.
A better picture of how this will play out is expected within the next few weeks.
“There is still time to make changes if necessary, so if the student wants a certain type of course versus a certain class itself, we’ll be able to accommodate that in a much more informed and intentional way in the coming weeks,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jennifer Bott said. “I encourage students to stay close to their advisors to learn more about what their individual course schedule looks like for fall.”
There are also options available for those that choose not to take in-person classes, but officials say it depends on the class itself. Students should remain in contact with professors and advisors to see what all online or in-person possibilities are for each class.
“There’s a lot of variables that are really unknown for fall around those experiential learning placements,” Bott said. “Staying close to the advisor and faculty members as it relates to that schedule is really important as we strive to accommodate our students and make sure they are progressing.”
As previously announced, it will not be possible to hold some classes on campus, specifically those that contain over 70 students. Therefore, multiple teaching methods will be held where applicable. More information about these changes will be available closer to the start of the semester.
Bott said that faculty members are being encouraged to take their teachings online for those larger classes.
International students and students who have contracted the virus may also have options to stream their classes online, but these must be done on a class-by-class basis, further emphasizing the importance of staying in contact with advisors.
Should there be a spike in COVID cases, there will be a contingency plan in place that could be similar to the 2020 spring semester.
“One of the recommendations that came out was for all of our faculty members to have a rapid transition to distance education planned,” Bott said. “We might have in-person instruction, we might have planned hybrid instruction, but if the spike occurs like it did in March, if we are asked to turn to distance education, our faculty members have been encouraged to have those plans ready.”
Further questions were raised that require in-person work, such as art classes. Some halves of classes may meet on different days than the other half of the class to lower the amount of students in one room.
“We’re spinning plates in the air as we’re trying to balance all of these needs, but I think we’ll see some real incredible creativity on behalf of our faculty and encourage our students to match them in that creativity as we plow through fall,” Bott said.
Restrictions may be imposed for visitors to the campus housing, but a final decision has yet to be made.
“That’s a conversation that we’re having right now,” Anderson said. “I think in order to be as cautious as we can be and do whatever we can to protect the health and safety of students living in those facilities, that makes good sense to me that we would not, during this COVID-19 time allow guests in the residence halls. The question I think we need to answer is if there are other residence hall students, could they visit someone else in another hall? We have to work out those details. We don’t want people to feel trapped, so we have to find a good balance there.”
Other topics covered included a delayed opening of the Campus REC Center, which officials said may be one of the last buildings to open, distribution of laptops to students in place of computer lab usage (as well as fewer seats available in computer labs) and a suspension of fall activities including Bronco Bash.
Anderson noted that the pandemic is a rapidly-changing situation, and campus protocols could change in the future.
“The situation is very fluid,” Anderson said. “Given what’s happening across the country and the uptick that many states are seeing, we’re gonna have to stay in really good and close communication. As things evolve and change, if students can stay on top of your email, that will help students stay really well informed.”
Students are also encouraged to follow WMU’s COVID-19 response page for the latest information on the subject.
A letter from Dr. Montgomery on the subject can be viewed here.
The full livestreamed Town Hall meeting can be viewed online at this link.
