Dear Student,
According to our records, you have registered to remain in your assigned residence hall during the period of March 16 through April 5. It is important that you read everything within this email in its entirety to ensure your safety and well-being while on campus.
Our Strong Recommendation
Per the guidance you received from President Paino and Dr. Landphair on Wednesday March 11, the University is strongly encouraging all residential students to make every effort to leave campus. The goal of sending residential students home is to encourage social distancing, a strategy recommended by the Centers for Disease Control in the face of COVID-19. Residence halls are an unavoidable place for students to be in close proximity to one another, and we are attempting to minimize that as much as possible.
Resources on campus will also be limited and may become increasingly so based on impacts of the virus on the university’s personnel. If you have the ability to leave now, we urge you to change your plans and depart campus before the end of the weekend. If you are able to do so, please contact our office so we can take you off the registration list.
Potential Quarantine/Self-Isolation Needed
Should circumstances warrant, any residential student remaining in residence may need to self-isolate/quarantine. This would mean that this student would not be permitted to leave the residence hall room for the period of self-isolation/quarantine. If this is something you would be unwilling to do in order to protect our community, then remaining in on-campus housing may not be appropriate. Please communicate any changes in your plans to our office so we may remove you from the registration list.
Limited Housekeeping and Facilities Services
While every effort will be made to continue to provide a safe and clean environment within our halls, it is important to be prepared for potential disruption or delay in services. Staffing will be focused on essential needs and we are asking for your support by taking trash to the dumpsters and cleaning up after yourself in bathrooms, kitchens, common spaces, and hallways/stairwells. Practice appropriate hygiene by wiping down surfaces after you use them, and refraining from using public spaces if you are not feeling well. All non-essential work orders will be completed when the university returns to full operation.
Community Responsibility
The safety and wellbeing of our communities is everyone’s responsibility. With limited staffing and resources within the residence halls, your adherence to expectations is crucial to keeping students and employees safe. The following expectations are in place until further notice:
- All overnight visitation is suspended. Only registered occupants of the room may spend the night in the room. All residential students remaining on-campus must sleep in their assigned rooms.
- No alcohol consumption permitted, regardless of age. This restriction is necessary to ensure emergency resources are not being diverted from the University’s COVID-19 response.
- Any alleged violations of the Code of Conduct may result in an immediate request for you to leave on-campus housing.
- Check-in on your friends and let others know you are remaining on campus. Social distancing doesn’t mean that individuals have to be lonely and isolated. Make sure you are staying in contact with friends and family on a regular basis.
- Eagle Landing residents*: only the front doors of Eagle Landing will be accessible beginning Monday morning. The desk will have limited service hours, but a security guard will be posted there when Residence Life staff is not.
Campus Services
- The Residence Life and Housing office will remain open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
- Professional On-Call support will continue 24/7. If it is after hours and you are in crisis or have an urgent need, please contact the RA on-duty phone number posted in your residence hall and a member of the Residence Life and Housing team will respond.
- Resident Assistants, whether they are remaining on campus or departing as recommended, will continue to check in with their assigned residents periodically. They may reach out to include residents in a GroupMe chat or facilitate other virtual gatherings.
- Starting Monday, March 16, academic buildings will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the University Center will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the HCC will remain open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For other information, please check specific building and office websites.
- From March 16-April 3, the fitness center will be open Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Goolrick Pool will have limited hours. Exercise classes and most programming have been canceled. Check the Campus Recreation Center website for more information.
- Dining services is operating normally through Sunday evening March 15. More information about dining is available at https://umw.sodexomyway.com/.
Decision to Leave
If you make the decision to leave campus for an alternative living situation (whether now or at some point in the future), please contact our office at reslife@umw.edu. It will be important for us to be able to maintain an accurate list of who is in our residence halls and your communication with us will be essential. Starting Monday morning at 10:00am, only residential students who have registered to remain on campus will have access to their residence halls.
In conclusion, this situation is fluid, and as new information comes in, circumstances may change. We will keep you updated and also encourage you to periodically check UMW’s COVID-19 website and FAQs, which are continually updated.
I will reiterate that the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our community is everyone’s responsibility. If you can leave, we urge you to do so. If you cannot, your cooperation in everything outlined in this email is essential to our success. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our office at 540-654-1058 or reslife@umw.edu.
In keeping with ASPIRE, we are committed to a working and learning environment that supports the wellbeing of all faculty, staff and students free from harassment, discrimination and unfair bias. Students, faculty and staff who have questions or concerns are encouraged to report a bias incident or may contact tlockhar@umw.edu or sjohnson@umw.edu, directly.
Dave Fleming
Assistant Dean for Residence Life and Housing