By Victoria Durgin, Editor in Chief
On Nov. 1 the university coronavirus dashboard reported no active cases on campus. By Nov. 9 that number had grown to nine. Just one day later the dashboard again updated, this time surging to 21 cases. Three minutes after that update the Office of President Jonathan Green emailed the campus community to announce an immediate shift to online classwork for the remainder of the semester.
“Due to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the Susquehanna Valley and among students on campus, and out of abundance of caution, university administrators decided to move to remote classes and labs for the remainder of the fall semester, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 11. We arrived at this decision with the health and safety of our campus community as our No. 1 priority,” the email began.
That email goes on to say that all dining options will remain open but will only offer food for takeout. In addition, the Blough-Weis Library and Garret Sports Complex are also closed, and all in-person gatherings for any purpose are cancelled.
Students may remain on campus through Nov. 20, which was planned to be the last day of on-campus classes. According to the email, students who choose to move out of their residence halls early must tell the Office of Residence Life via email and complete required checking out procedures.
The shift to remote learning comes as six university residence halls remain under quarantine. The Alice Springs, Buenos Aires, Montreal and New Orleans Townhouses in the 18th Street Complex all entered quarantine procedures at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, according to the university dashboard.
Reed Hall West was also quarantined at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 10. Reed Hall East and Smith Hall remain under quarantine procedures that were already in place prior to Nov. 10.
The email from the Office of the President also said that students not in quarantine should still feel free to move on campus to pick up food or otherwise enjoy being outside.
“All other students are free to move about campus to pick up food or spend time outdoors while adhering to safety protocols; however, they cannot enter residence halls other than their own. Faculty and staff should report to work as normal and may continue to access their offices,” said Green in the email.
The following resources have been shared for students, faculty, staff and other community members with questions or concerns:
COVID-19 Hotline: 570-372-3333
Student Life: vpsl@susqu.edu
Student Health Services: 570-372-4385
Student Counseling Center: counseling@susqu.edu | weekdays: 570-372-4751 | weekends: 570-374-9164
Human Resources: humanresources@susqu.edu | 570-372-4024
Employee Assistance Programs: https://www.workhealthlife.com/ | https://eap.ndbh.com/ – Employer code: Susquehanna
This is an ongoing story and we will continue to post updates and articles as they become available.